Hill running and climbing in the Highlands

Loch a Bhraoin Hills

2011-06-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

The cottage at Lochivraon at the end of Loch a Bhroain.

Admiring the view from Groban.

Loch an Nid

Traversing beneath Meall Garbh on the Fisherfield ridge.

Running along on old river bed with Meallan an Laoigh behind after descending Coire nan Clach.

A hill runners flora - Part I

2011-06-21T12:21:00.001-07:00

A selection of plants from last weekend's run in the Fisherfield.

Common eyebright (Euphrasia nemorosa) - it was apparently used to be used to treat sore eyes and also gives you physic powers.

Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense) - partially parasitic. The similar looking Small Cow-wheat is very rare.

Dwarf cornel (Cornus suecica) - the berries are meant to be an appetite stimulant hence the Gaelic name which translates as 'plant of gluttony'.

Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) - one of my favourite plants because it eats midges.

Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) - this parasitic plant is more common with purple flowers. The name seems to come from common belief that ingestion of the plant by livestock would induce lice infestation.

I have identified the plants as best I can but there may be some errors. Let me know if I have misidentified anything.

Loch Lyon Watershed

2011-06-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

Loch Lyon Watershed

A running friend of mine, and fellow Marilyn-bagger, gave me a call earlier in the year regarding an 11 hill epic run. Loosely based on the watershed of Loch Lyon, which if kept to the strict definition would 'only' take in 5 Munros and 4 Corbetts, he guessed the distance at around about 50km (30 miles in old money) with 4000m plus of ascent. My rule of thumb for long hill runs seems to work out at about a Marilyn an hour plus a couple of hours. So I estimated it would take about 14 hours. With that in mind I stocked up with a rather random selection of fruit pastiles, sesame bars, chocolate, flap jack, honey roasted nuts and my new wonder food - Chicken Jalfrezi chunks in soft white rolls! After my experience on the Glen Etive 11 there was NO Complan on the menu. It all added up to quite a hefty weight.

I met up with Dave in Pubil by the Hydro road to Killin on Friday night and awoke to almost perfect weather. Looking down Loch Lyon however it was evident that the weather was not going to last. Easily we trotted off down the road and then up the first hill, and Munro, of the day - Stuchd an Lochain. The going was good. Grassy underfoot and little evidence of peathags and deep heather. In fact the whole run was remarkable good running. Perhaps something to do with the underlying geology and the grazing pressure from sheep and deer? It certain made a nice change from the usual underfoot conditions on Marilyn missions.

We continued anti-clockwise bagging a couple of grassy Corbetts on the way, both with some impressive views over Rannoch Moor. So far so good. Early niggles sorted themselves out and there was enough of a view to take the mind off the effort involved. A of botanising on the way helped pass the time finding all the kind of things you would expect- moss campion, cloud berry, bilberry, trailing azalea to name a few.

The more we headed West, the lower the cloud dropped and the colder it felt. Just as we were beginning to drop down to the deep bealach from where we would have to get up onto Beinn a Chreachain I had to put on another layer. At 1081m it is the biggest hill of the route (by a few meters) and it felt it. I always have a bad spell during long runs and even though we were only just over 3 hours into the run, I had hit the wall. It is for these situations that I have my MP3 in the bag. I know that die-hard mountain men would deplore the use of non-traditional tactics, but it really does help. A good bit of German Rock got me up the never-ending grass slope into the clag and rocks.

The weather just got worse and worse. It deteriorated from a fine mist first to dreich then right on through to minging. By the time we reached Beinn Mhanach I was soaked, cold and all my toys were out of the pram scattered somewhere in Gleann Cailliche in the gloomy depths below. I was all for giving up. A jalfrezi bap and a clearing in the weather provided, together with stern manly words from Dave, suitable motivation for the rather uninspiring sequence of 3 Corbetts that were to follow. The scenery was spectacular I admit, but I challenge any hillwalker or runner to wax lyrical about 35 degree grass slopes that seem to go on for miles. At the least we had a temporary respite from the rain and I managed to dry out.

Typically, we ran right back into the rain for the last 2 Munros. The navigation was tricky in the thick weather, but after a steep decent through rocky outcrops from Creag Mhor directly to the bealach we at last found a good baggers path up Beinn Heasgarnich. An easterly bearing from the summit took us down to the Hydro road and back to the tents for tea and medals some 13.5 hours after we started.

Getting back into the swing of things

2011-06-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

It has been a longtime since I last posted. I have been trying to think why. Part of it most surely be that the weather really hasn't been that great for taking photographs (how much wind has there been this year???).

Over the winter I ran a lot of trails from my house in the middle of Inverness out towards Dores which sits as the eastern end of Loch Ness. I have managed to link up some great trails to get runs up to 23 miles with only a small percentage on road. The sections of track alongside the River Ness, when not knee-deep in flood water, are simply superb. Heading back to Inverness there are a number of high-level forestry tracks on the hillside above Dores. Invariably the wind is blowing you back to Inverness making the conifer plantations less tedious. The north side of the Great Glen has some fantastic routes too, Anyway, I have a small project in mind with the aim of making up some route maps of trail runs accessible from Inverness. It might take me a while though.

With my new-found enthusiasm for trail running I ran a section of the Speyside Way from Bridge of Avon to Spey Bay, a distance of some 30 miles and part of the race route. I don't know whether I was just having a bad day, but when I reached the end, which has a fantastic cafe at the Whale and Dolphin Centre, I was distinctly grumpy. In fact I rated the day on the fun-ness scale as a lowly 2 out of 10. The weather was okay, I had a great running partner and the flora and fauna were interesting, but I was still disappointed. Somehow the Spey remained elusive throughout much of the day only revealing coy glimpses through the trees, also there were quite long road sections. Even more surprising was the amount of hill on what should have been, I thought, a downhill riverside run. To be fair to it, the last section from Fochabers was lovely and it was all good training.

In order to restore my yin after some much (almost too much) yang the next weekend I went off up some hills - although after discussion with my Tai chi-ing wife apparently yin is associated with dark thoughts and yang with big bursts of energy - so perhaps that should be the other way around. I wouldn't know because a yoga teacher once told me that I didn't have any earth-force - no shit Sherlock. Anyway, back to the running. It was a nice steady (and highly recommended 8 out of 10 on the fun-ness scale) 10 mile Marilyn bagging trip over Mona Gowan via the melt-water channel of the Slacks of Glencarvie over to Morven. To return to the car parked on the A939 by Glenferzie, we jogged back in the sun along estate roads watching rain showers to the North and South whilst we stayed dry. Perhaps this karma thing does work, although then I would be guilty of mixing my religions. Is Daoism a religion? No idea, but I am sure Wikipedia will know....

Ben More Seven

2010-10-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

The round over the seven Munros just south of Crianlarich is another one of those long hill running classics that just have to be done. A good forecast and low Munro count for the year so far meant that I was really keen to head down and get it bagged. The round is about 20 miles in length with 3000m of ascent and only a very small amount of road running. I parked at the Forestry Commission carpark just east of Crianlarich 'town centre' and headed east along the road to Ben More in effect doing a clockwise round.

It seems like most walkers take these hills in three of four chunks and the day was an exercise in linking up the 'normal routes'. This predominately involved big drops and climbs into and out of the deep bealachs that subdivide this group of hills. All of which were pretty rough and slow going. In contrast, the linking ridges all boasted well-worn paths and the odd bit of easy scrambling.

The conditions were fantastic with a think layer of cloud ending abruptly at 500m, above this it was sunny and warm with only faint breeze. Under these benign conditions the cloud in the glens didn't shift all day. In some of the bealachs the cloud layer was just about managing to creep over from one corrie into another, but generally it was a day of views and soaking up the sunshine.

The order in which to do the last two Munros, An Caisteal and Beinn Chabhair, was a decision I was unsure about - an still am. In the end I decided on climbing Beinn Chabhair last and then I ran down Coire a' Chuilinn to reach the West Highland Way at Derrydarroch. I wanted to make the run about 20 miles and also having never run on the WHW, I wanted to see what it was like. The corie was pretty awful underfoot and once in the mist it was an unpleasant contrast to the sunny tops above. There is an obvious ridge to follow if you finished on An Caisteal which would give a shorter, and probably more pleasant, route back.

As soon as I started on the tracks of the WHW my hips started complaining again - just as they had on my Fort to Fort run a few weeks earlier. I walked for about 10 minutes and then got bored so decided to 'man-up' and jogged what remained back to the carpark. I am sorry to say that Way just didn't float my boat, which is not to detract from the enjoyment that many derive from walking and running the route. The route took me 8h 45min at what I thought at the time was a gentle(ish) pace, however it took my legs almost a week to recover and so much for my off-season.

Fort to Fort

2010-09-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

The Great Glen Way is much maligned amongst folk up here for being tedious and boring, but to paraphrase someone (Hamish Brown I think) 'there are no boring runs, just boring people' it remains none-the-less an attractive and logical challenge.

I thought I would just rock up and give it a go and see how far I got. I seem to be pretty tired much of the time at the moment, so even before I set off I was only aiming for Fort Augustus. A run from 'Fort to Fort' had a nice ring to it and it was the section of the GGW that I hadn't been on before - having cycled the Eastern section only few weeks previously.

Strangely (!) I was the only passenger on the 5.30am bus from Inverness to Fort William. It became apparent the close I got to the start that I hadn't picked a great day. I was chilled from the start with the first proper frost of the autumn and there was an atmospheric low lying mist. From the rather inauspicious start on a roundabout on the bypass, the first section was a mixture of narrow path alongside the loch and river before heading through some rather grim housing scheme roads. After about 30 minutes I was on to the canal which is followed until Gairlochy. The beech trees alongside the track were turning and remnants of mist clung to the utterly still water of the canal. Absolutely stunning. I had only a vague idea of the distances of each leg so I ran this flat section far too fast. I fact I was nearly half an hour up on schedule, but I was feeling great.

From Gairlochy the Way follows the northern shore of Loch Lochy along a fantastic little path, only forsaking the lochside for the road when the bank steepens too much. The views back towards Ben Nevis revealed it's north face, accentuated by clouds draped over the buttresses. I was still cold and to cap it all a head wind sprang up. Dropping onto a forest track after a few miles of quiet single track road I got the first twinges from my hips and thighs. 'A bit early for a rough patch' I thought and just kept on running hoping it would go away. Having driven down the shores of the loch dozens of times on the A82 and thinking it a small loch, I soon came to be proven otherwise. It just seemed to go on and on and by the time I reached Kilfinnan I was seriously struggling to keep running. The forestry track wasn't exactly interesting, but the views were still worthwhile.

Laggan Locks was passed and on to another delightful section of track through some woods, restoring my faith in the route. A quick crossing of the A82 to reach the disused railway which runs alongside Loch Oich. As the path wound through birch forest and my pace slowed, I decided that my hips hurt too much and called in a lift to get me back from Fort Augustus. With now no pressure to go much further, I just chilled out and enjoyed the countryside jogging as much as I could. At the Bridge of Oich it was back to the canal tow path. Running even on the flat was difficult, but necessary as walkers began to appear at regular intervals. There was no way I would be seen to have had to resort to walking.

After an age of trying to guess how far I had left to go and desperately hoping to see the locks at Fort Augustus around the corner, I arrived just 10 minutes short of 6 hours after leaving Fort William - the last section having taken some 20 minutes longer than even my rough schedule allowed.

So that was 50km or about 32 miles at an average pace of 5.3 mph, although the first section was dispatched at 7mph pace. Not great, but a nice little run and a great day to finish my running year on. A couple of months off running now for time to plan for next year...

Glen Etive 11

2010-08-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

I have had an idea of running the Ben Starav Nine for a while, but I kept in at the back of my mind. I was put off by having to drop a bike off at the top of Glen Etive to get back to the start. In a quiet moment at work I was perusing the map when I came up with a new and cunning plan. If I added in the two Corbetts of Beinn Mhic Chasgaig and Stob Dubh the route would become a nice, neat circle with only a few hundred meters of common ground. The stats didn't seem too bad - just over 50km and 4500m of ascent or thereabouts and an estimate of 10 hours.

With the weather not looking favourably on a long run in the Cairngorms, along with a distinct lack of motivation for a long solo run in the dark, I decided last Thursday to have a go on Friday. Thursday night saw me in Glen Etive camped in the car ready for an early start. Even crammed into a Focus I managed to over sleep and it wasn't until six thirty that I was under way.

The day was perfect with only light cloud cover and a slight breeze keeping the temperatures almost perfect for running. Ben Starav, Beinn nan Aighenan and Glas Bheinn Mhor passed by in a blur. Fantastic running mostly all on well trodden paths following ridge lines and I enjoyed the inspiring views trying to put a name on the summits I could see. The summit cloud had by now all lifted. The next munros, Stob Coir' an Albannaich and Meall nan Eun seemed a bit out of place - more like hills in Cairngorms than the west coast. At least water wasn't much of an as each of the deep bealachs had their own burns. For the first time I was trying Complan - a meal substitute drink, but unfortunately I couldn't find any Nuuns tablets so I was relying on Tesco mini Scotch eggs for salt intake (!!!).

Having banged out the first five Munros in less than five hours I was pretty chuffed, but I knew now my estimate of 10 hours was going to be way out. It felt a long way to Stob Ghabar, but I was still enjoying myself and I savoured the views back to Ben Starav. A mini Aonach Eagach lead down to the climb up to Stob a Choire Odhair. Munro seven and seven hours in. I decided to take a beeline for Meall a' Bhuiridh for several reasons. There looked to be a big shower of rain coming through, the wind had picked up and when else was I going to be here to run through the bogs surrounding the Black Mount.

It was almost 2 hours later that I reached the ski-ing detritus on the slopes of Meall a Bhuiridh having survived a pretty intense rain shower and the man-eating peat hags of the River Ba bogs. After so much beautiful scenery it was all a bit depressing. It was now pretty cold with a bitter wind, my feet hurt and I was keen just to get on with it. A short steep scramble up to Creise. 11 hours and now I was on my way home. Could I do it or would the 'easy option' of the road become too tempting?

At least the first Corbett Beinn Mhic Chasgaig was easy. With new enthusiasm I decided to go for Stob Dubh and finish of the route 'properly'. Allt Coire Ghuibhasan was alive with midgies and despite the dramatic surroundings I was glad to press on. The SMC guide book speaks of short grass when it mentions Stob Dubh. Obviously the landowner has forgotten to mow this particular hill for a while. Knee and thigh deep tussocks were the order of the day until the ridge was reached, strangely I still felt pretty positive - well more positive than I had 2 hours ago. The summit craig loomed ahead - a more than fitting end to this hard run.

Finally it happened. I hit the wall. The last fifty meters of ascent were overcome with a supreme effort of mind over matter. I felt sick. I couldn't eat or drink and I was out of gas. I sat on the top for a moment on the cairn and contemplated the way off. Once I had picked a way through the crags it would all be okay. The mist had by now come in, however I got through the steep rocky section and to my horror discovered that the promised short grass didn't exist on this side of the hill either. Imaginary sheep mocked me as I hobbled down, the track never getting any closer. After an hour of agony I reached the track.

My stomach by now so sore that even a gentle jog was too much. Fast walking interspersed with bouts of retching finally got me back to the car 13 hours and 45 minutes after leaving it. Not the quickest, but my longest unsupported run. The less said about the drive back to Inverness the better. Suffice to say I managed by the grace of God to keep all my bodily fluids out of the car interior at least.

500th Marilyn

2010-08-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would post a rather shocking photo of a very beardy (and topless) me with Owen on my 500th Marilyn - High Willhays on Dartmoor. This was the culmination of hectic week bagging hills down south. Although not high some of the hills were great to run and dodgy the rain showers on Bodmin Moor was particularly memorable.

Trail of the 7 lochs (T7L)

2010-07-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

After postponing an attempt in April (too much cold weather) and another go in June (due to the whole family going down with tonsillitis) I have finally got round to running the Trail of the seven lochs or the T7L if you are local ; ).

This is a 50 mile trail set up around the hills south and west of Inverness primarily aimed at horse riders. You can get more info here and maps here. I fancied running it primarily as it on my doorstep and it would be good training. Having have a look at the maps I realised the route was quite complex and spent a couple of very enjoyable days with Owen checking some sections out. In hindsight I wish I had spent more time checking out the route as the waymarking (either posts or white stones) is a bit scant in parts - not helped with the overgrown nature of some of the trails. Probably take more heed of the trail notes than I did!

The weather forecast for Monday was good - overcast, not too much wind and only showers forecast, so at 7am I started out from near Cullaird. All went well until I got lost just after Loch Ashie, but I don't think it mattered too much time-wise. The trail uses all sorts of surfaces - road, forestry track, grassy rides, single track and some seriously off-road knee-deep heather sections. The views down the Great Glen were superb and the area in general has some great scenery. Soon after the momentous heather-bashing section to Tom na Croich (I couldn't resist going up this rocky knoll) it all went wrong again in the woods surrounding Creag Innis an Daimh Dhuibh. I got badly lost (I had to get the compass out) and added a few miles on the the days mileage. At least no-one was about the hear my rantings and ravings.

The section around Loch Mhor dragged and after about 5 hours I hit the wall. With little motivation I staggered on, only regaining my sense of humour on the superb trails that drop you down to Inverfarigaig.

Emily and Owen had kindly driven to the FC carpark and a 30min sit down with IrnBru and a cheese sandwich made the prospect of finishing the route all the more likely. The big climb out to the Pass of the Fairheaded Lad went well, despite the forecast heavy showers arriving a wee bit early. From here on in it is about 12 miles of forestry track. Not overly interesting, but it was great to see the distance to Dores and Inverness steadily decreasing and it didn't feel too bad. Finally the finish was in sight after 10 hours with a run time of 9 hours 30 minutes. This was pretty much spot on as I predicted. The running and views were much better than expected and having a bad spell is always to be expected so all in all I am pretty chuffed with the days efforts.

I am pretty sure know the Paddy Buckley is off - mainly due the cost of travelling down for an attempt and anyway I have to leave something to train for next year : )

Old County Tops

2010-05-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Looking back over my photographs there seems to be a lot more cloud than I remember as my overwhelming impression of the Old County Tops is of heat and sun. The day seemed to be a constant battle to keep fed, watered and cool enough to keep going.

Starting in Langdale the 37 mile route traces a path over Helvellyn before a thigh bursting descent down Thirlmere. A long section then heads over to Scafell Pike, followed by another drop to Cockley Beck. Lastly a final climb up to the Old Man and then downhill all the way back to the start in Langdale.

Myself and Jonathan had a pretty simple plan - take it steady and try and hit the cut-offs. That was all. The route was initially over tracks and road to Grasmere, and by the first burn crossing about 5km into the run the heat was already making itself felt. Climbing up to Helvellyn via Tongue Gill and Grisedale Tarm was just a matter of keeping it steady and once the angle of the slopes increased we began to pick up places, receiving a healthy number of compliments on the Highland race strip along the way. The Whelp Side descent from the summit cairn was steep, grassy and a real thigh burner. A short crash through the forest to the car park where there was a food and drink stop about 50 minutes up on the schedule.

The following long jog through Wythburn, over Greenup Edge along to Angle Tarn was scenic and hot following indistinct trods along the south slopes of Langstrath. Angle Tarn was reached about 50 minutes before the cut-off, but we didn't linger. I knew most of the next section up to Scafell Pike from my Bob Graham a few years back. It didn't feel nearly as bad this time and there was a welcome breeze.

After Jonathan tagged the true summit, adding his second Lakes marilyn to his tally, we dropped back down to Little Narrowcove - a steep scree footpath leading to Great Moss. It was definitely a case of 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'. Not even the hint of a breeze and it wasn't until Moasdale that we were able to get a proper rhythm going.

After a quick pit stop at Cockley Beck we set off up to the col between Grey Friar and Great Carrs. I wasn't feeling too bad, but Jonathan was struggling in the heat and with a lack of energy. After a while I took his bag and as soon as topped the slope the welcoming breeze encouraged a faster walk/jog, and I thankfully gave Jonathan his bag back. Soon after I misread the map and swapped the Old Man with Dow Crag and if it hadn't been for Jonathan we would have ended up with a extremely embarrassing and demoralising detour. Thankfully the summit of the Old Man was reached without further mishap and now it really was downhill all the way. Jogging back along Swirl How we met lots of runners coming up the hill. Somehow, despite feeling that we were running slowly, we had managed to overtake and pull out time a whole heap of other teams.

The rest of the run was steady and we ran pretty much all of it finishing in 10 hours 16 minutes, which I think equates to 30th place. I think we were both happy with that. It was a hard run in a fantastic location and the place or time didn't matter. The challenging conditions made achieving the cut-off time and the tee shirt even more worthwhile.

Highlander Mountain Marathon

2010-05-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

The highlander mountain marathon took place earlier in the month over towards Gairloch. This is a fantastic event which is much more chilled out than either the LAMM or the OMM. Unfortunately the only year I have competed in it coincided with the worst weather they had experienced. It took months for my feet to thaw out so I have never been back to race. Rather than taking part I had the task of marshalling at one of the checkpoints on the first day at Poca Buidhe bothy.

I biked in using the track from the Gairloch road, with only a couple of irritatingly locked gates, and in about an hour I reached the the start of the loch, where I ditched the bike to bag the easternmost Corbett on the way to the bothy checkpoint. The bothy has one open end and despite the amount of mice droppings looked in pretty good nick. I was glad to be sunning myself and enjoyed fantastic views to the back of Liatach and Beinn Alligin. The checkpoint was busier than expected and everyone was having a great time, including those who seemed to be massively late.

As the last team went through I headed west to grab in the other Corbett, involving a rather scary traverse line as I tried to avoid some height gain, before biking back to the car. The track back was tough on my fully rigid rather retro Cannondale, but I cleaned it all despite having a touch of double vision and knackered arms by the end of it.

The same day we headed down to Wales for a week long marilyn bagging trip and a couple of days in North Wales checking out some more sections of Paddy Buckley. I had one long day running the leg from Capel Curig to Aberglaslyn in unseasonably hot weather. Despite the heat I was running it well within schedule and enjoyed it for the most part. I was shattered at the end of the run though, but still had energy to check out the start of the next leg - sorting out a route finding issue I had had last time I was there.

After a chilly night in the car I did part of the Snowdon leg, through Llanberis and then up through the quarries to Eildir Fawr. I ballsed up the slate mines badly and spent a good bit of time wandering around the inclines. The end result was I missed the schedule time by a good 10 minutes and lost motivation to go on to the Glyders. Probably a good thing in hindsight as my legs were burnt enough as it was. All in all another successful reccy and I just need to get a few more long runs under my belt and get down to Wales again to check out the Glyders and Carneddau sections. Paddy Buckley's Round seems to be a hybrid of Ramsay's and Bob Graham's Round - a superb mixture of rough ground like Ramsay's but also with long sections of really fun undulating ridges like the Bob. I am really looking forward to giving it a go.

Tower Ridge

2010-04-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

Tower Ridge is meant to be one of the the classic mountaineering days out in the British Isles, and the photographs say it all really. Even on Monday it was busy and despite a fairly early start at 8.00am from the car park we were pretty much last on the ridge. Everything would have been fine apart from a rather inexperienced party in front who struggled on anything remotely technical and seemed to want to pitch it in 20m rope lengths. As to the grade, under the conditions we climbed it in it was a straight forward grade III with the technical crux being the avoidable chimney at Douglas Gap

I had never done the ridge before so it was fantastic to do it on such a good day. After the first chimney it was quite a distance of grade I/II ground to the base of the little tower.

After about an hour and half wait in the sun we climbed the Little Tower in two long pitches with a 60m rope - all on ice. Another short flat section followed before another long wait for the Eastern Traverse to clear of other climbers.

The drop was awesome - very similar to No 3 Gully Buttress and the rest of the climbing to the Great Tower was pretty much banked out and everything was coated in a nice thick layer of ice. Mark dropped into Tower Gap and skirted round it on the left from where it we moved together for the last hundred-odd meters.

Just as we were finishing the route the clouds started to gather and we walked down in a light snow shower past halfway lochan and back to Allt A'Mhuillin. The sunset was spectacular as behind us the Ben gathered the clouds into the corries.

Carn Sleamhuin

2010-03-21T02:16:00.001-07:00

My foot is still a bit tender after the Hobble so myself and Becky went for a walk with Owen over Carn Sleamhuin and Carn na Guaille from Dalnahaltnach. There were pretty deep remants of snow in the tracks and it was very blowy, with some vicious showers, once we got on to the more exposed sections. A lovely place for a walk/run when the higher tops would just be grim. Carrbridge has a good cafe too with a good selection of cakes.

Haworth Hobble the recovery

2010-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Haworth makes even Drumnadrochit seem understated when it comes to cashing in on the tourists. I mean there must be at least one B and B in the Highland town which hasn't got a name linked to Nessie, but I think you would be pushed to find an establishment in Haworth that isn't in some way linked to the bl@@dy Bronte sisters. Even our room, in the otherwise excellent B and B, had a copy of Wuthering Heights - it probably replaces the Gideon in these parts.

After one of the most chilled out race registrations and a lovely breakfast, the race started outside The Fleece at 8am. We walked the first hill then settled into a long distance shuffle at the back of the pack. The weather was chilly, but sunny and it was only misty for a few miles.

Even the race route couldn't avoid the influence of that evil triad of scribblers as we had to cross Br@@te Bridge, shortly after which we ploughed into the back of the pack which was held up at one of the stile crossings. Everyone was very polite and no-one dared jump the fence.

On the first moorland section the headwind was bitter and really made it's presence known near Widdop. After that the route seemed to be much less exposed, but I still wore gloves for most of the day. The ground was frozen in parts, paved in others and very pleasant to run along. For the most part we ran in small, friendly groups leaving the nav to people who had done it before. Pleasingly we both managed a constant pace throughout and so gradually made our way through the field and Lisa kept smiling.

Aside from a very sore right foot, probably due to the hard ground and a lack of runs of over 7 miles in length, I managed to survive the Hobble in remarkably good shape. My running partner Lisa, a friend from Uni days, was hoping just to get round and we had a target time of 10 hours. Suitably fortified with the previous evening's traditional Yorkshire Biryani and an awesome fry up that morning, we did considerably better finishing in 7 hours 24 minutes. Tired, but not unduly so.

In fact I enjoyed myself, which is sometimes a pretty difficult for me to do, probably partly as I was able to leave my 'race face' at home. The course was varied moorland tracks with just the right amount of tedious tarmac for me to be grumpy about. Although there weren't any big hills I can't remember any flat bits either - just nicely undulating. My greatest ambition for the race was to get to the hot dog stand at mile 15. Lisa's face was a picture as she watched me washing down the frankfurter with a steaming mug of tea, whilst she struggled to digest some Jelly babies.

The event reminded me of a kind of Fellsman-lite and was much more enjoyable and interesting than the likes of the Three Peaks. Perhaps not great specific training for the Paddy Buckley, but I got some miles in the legs, a superb motivation boost and perhaps a good kick start to some distance run training. All I have to hope is that all the snow and ice melts as at the moment temptation is too great and I always end up climbing instead.

My next trip to Wales is in late April and I can't wait...

You win some you lose some.

2010-03-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

A tale of two days really. Only 24 hours apart, but miles from each other with regards to conditions and enjoyment factor!

On Thursday I teamed up with Wendy who had not done much Scottish climbing. I had heard that the North West had less snow so less avalanche danger. When we rounded the bend on the Bealach na Ba I wasn't expecting that much less snow! Most of the lines were broken and our first choice of route looked way out. Cue panic. I was meant to be the experienced 'local' and here we were in front of the practically bare cliff of Meall Gorm. A quick look in the guidebook revealed The 6 track Mono Blues - apparently a soft touch grade II further up the cliff. Thankfully, it looked much better. Once in the gully the ice was superb and the snow was much, much better than expected. The only thing lacking were belays and I gratefully smacked in pegs into the sidewalls. In the lean conditions it was a definite II. We came down via the descent gully which was festooned with a rather random plastic pipe attached to rusting metal stanchions. What is was or why it is there I still didn't know. The weather was good, aside from a brief snow shower, so loath to go home we went ice bouldering. Where the 'Master' displayed rather less finesse than his 'Apprentice'.

Friday came along with the flush of success from yesterday instilling a certain sense of confidence. Despite the forecast we decided on Glen Shiel. As always the weather was fantastic until the Cluanie where it decided to hack it down. Rain, interspersed with wet snow, was driven along by a keen wind and the warm temperatures had softened the snow horribly. Following the guide book instructions we headed up over the shoulder of Maoile an t-Searraich. The Allt of the afore-mentioned hill provided some great sport with a couple of 2-3m vertical steps, allowing the driving rain to be forgotten about for a time. Reaching the shoulder we then saw we had come too high for our objective - Enchanted Falls a grade III ice route. A tenuous very steep descent on wet snow and grass dropped us, finally, at the bottom of the route. The first two pitches looked very thin and wet. However, above the falls opened out into a wide cascade of ice bulges. To get to them we had to somehow traverse in. After a pitch of enjoyable grade II ice. I set off on a traverse above some slabs to get to the cascade. All that was required was a few steps down. A combination of cold, wet, a lack of protection and a dawning sense that climbing melting ice in a rainstorm wasn't a wise idea saw me back off. Disappointed with not having done the route, we trudged down hill, calf-deep in slush at some points.

In retrospect all still good fun, but some major learning points for the day - it is much, much hard to jump across streams with a bag stuffed full of wet climbing rope... and don't forget your waterproof trousers.

Haworth Hobble preparations

2010-03-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I last posted way back in December! Time flies when you are training and then trying to recover and dealing with the daily 5.30am to 6am wakeup calls from Owen. There seems to be hardly anytime to do anything else. Training seems to be going well with nay a session missed so far this year - I have just jinxed myself there. The mileage is still pretty low, but I am up to 6 runs a week and some decent long days in the hills. Actually some of the runs have been exchanged for some cross country ski-ing because it seems we have had constant snow and ice for the past few months. All good though and I do feel strong - especially so after about 45minutes of hard exercise. The winter Olympics has been a great motivation and watching the cross country and biathlon has been awe-inspiring.

It is now only a couple of weeks to go until my first race of the year; The Haworth Hobble which is a 32 mile jaunt near Hebden Bridge. Bronte country apparently although I doubt I have ever read any of their work. My longest run has been about 7 miles, but I am hoping the long climbing days, including a fantastic traverse of the Aonach Eagach will keep me right. I am running it with a friend who is planning the Bob Graham Round so I am just aiming to have fun and get some mileage in the legs.

When I look back to 2008 (my Ramsay year) it all seems to be heading in a similar direction and if anything my training seems to be more consistent. I really do rate mountaineering days out as superb preparation for the 24 hour challenge-type runs so hopefully the snow will consolidate and let me out in the crampons. I wont top 2008 for the number of winter routes done (20), but a decent number should set me up well for the summer. A trip to Armenia planned for June will push back my Paddy attempt into early July. The reccy trip to Snowdonia is still on for April. So here's hoping I survive the Hobble...

Snow, snow and more snow...

2009-12-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Snow has been lying thickly even in Inverness for the past week, so apart from a few runs around town with my Inovates which grip well in the snow ice encrusted pavements, any forays into the hills require skis or snow shoes. Just to prove my theory I slogged in to look at a crag today with a cliff-base of about 550m on Sgurr na Feartaig. Not enough ice and the fact it took 4 hours to walk the 5km from Craig put paid to any climbing ambitions. Still, the ski-ing has been fantastic and looks to stay that way for a while as most forecasts indicate no real change in the weather.

The demoted Munro near Morusig.

Ski-ing the Farr access road with Owen on Saturday.

Before we got that huge dump I walk/ran over Cul Mor and Cul Bheag with Dave and Jonathan a couple of weeks ago. We lost Jonathan on Cul Mor who having already bagged Cul Bheag opted to check out the sub-marilyn near Cul Mor 'just in case'. Despite dire warnings from the guidebooks the ground between the two was reasonable and the final slog up Cul Bheag eased by a motorway of a path. It was one of those days which will stick in the mind for a while and minutes were spent on the top marilyn-spotting. The easy-paced round trip of 4.5h surprisingly straight forward.

Cul Mor from the path to Cul Bheag.

An Cabar Strathbran

2009-11-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

An Cabar is a small hill (558m) in Strathbran Forest on the south shore of Loch Fannich and a short outing (1.5hours) from the A832 near Achanalt. It is a pretty straight forward run following a well defined stalkers path/quad bike trail up to the loch. From here the undulating ridge is relatively (relative to the rest of the surrounding hilside) dry to the trig point. The views were fantastic especially to the north and east. Coming down I headed south west cross country to meet up with the path near the forest boundary. Although wet, the running was good and reached the car just before the rain started.

This ruined boat on the bank of Loch na Curra seemed out of place in the middle of a hillside at 350m altitude.

A random picture that I took last weekend over by Abriachen.

Paddy Buckley 2010?

2009-11-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

After a year of getting used to a baby boy and too much work, next year is going to be the one to 'finish off' the classic three 24 hour rounds. So far I have enjoyed the Bob Graham (2006) and the Ramsay (2008) - more so for the training rather than the runs themselves. Perverse perhaps, but there is always such an air of expectation around the actual attempts. The excuse to go running into the big hills at night is always such a draw to me, so Paddy Buckley's round is quite an attractive prospect. Plus it would be nice to explore parts of Wales that I haven't been to since I was a teenager. Also despite good races this year, results are just good race results and nothing more. So next year I want to have a bit more of an adventure.

Last week as part of a trip to in-laws who live near Aberysthwyth I decided to do my first reccy to have a look-see and get my training kick started. The leg from Aberglaslyn to Pont Caegors seemed suitably short with a scheduled (to a sub-24h schedule) time of 3.46. Almost from the off I got lost in the woods above Aberglaslyn following a marked footpath which unfortunately didn't go to where I wanted to go. Next time I should just stick to the stream and head towards to left of the ridge past the old buildings. So I was seriously hacked off with the whole enterprise before I had even begun! Once I was back on the route to Bryn Banog I calmed down and jogged the easy ground - the grass was short, the bogs shallow and the tussocks small. From the top of Moel Hebog I encountered the first of a couple of very steep grassy downhills. Lethal in my worn out fell shoes and my dodgy ankle, but useful information all the same. And I began to enjoy myself.

The rest of the run was straight forward and fun - always following well defined paths or trods on easy running terrain with the only tricky bit Y Gyrn which was coated in thick heather and just seemed a bit pointless and a mere pimple to boot.

Towards the end of the leg the ridge after Mynydd Drws y Coed got decidedly slippery with a bit of scrambling, not helped by the torrential downpour which had just passed overhead. Cautiously edging down some slabs I heard some clattering above and a rucksac descended towards me on parcel string. An older walker followed the bag and seemed relieved to have got back to easier ground. Did he have the parcel string in his bag by chance, or was it in his normal hill walking kit to help him out of such a predicament?

Coming off Y Garn was a mild disaster as I got the line completely wrong. I had tried to stick to the marked paths, but would have been better off heading straight towards the forest and pick up some roads in there. Still, by the time I reached the road only 3h20 had elapsed so under schedule and a couple of chances to save even more time.

Tomnabat Hill Race

2009-07-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone? It seems to have rained for the past 3 days non-stop. So gone are the great running conditions. Replaced by the normal boggy state of affairs. Due to forecast I decided that if I wanted to get a race in it would have to be relatively close to Inverness. So Tomnabat Hill Race (AS 5.5km 380m or thereabouts) as part of the Tomintoul Highland Games was chosen in preference to Glamaig on Skye.

Arriving in the driving rain in Tomintoul, I discovered that most of the events had been cancelled but the hill race was still on. I had never run the route, but had heard all sorts of rumours of man-eating ditches and head-high heather.

It was a pretty small field of runners at the start and I was soon at the front with Jason Williamson on the first track section and a guy running for Fife. After a couple of minutes we reached a gate, hopped over it and then headed up the unflagged section to the top of the hill. I didn't have a clue of where to go, other than up, but after an initially section of scrub, the heather was low and it was all runnable. Thankfully after the summit the route was well flagged again. I don't think I would have found my way down without them. Deep heather, trees and steep slopes all made more interesting by the amount of water in the sky as well as underfoot. After a very short section of estate road it was back up on a small track, initially steep but soon easing off, back over the shoulder of Tom na Bat. This last climb, wet again, dragged allowing me to finally get some distance on Jason. The drop down back to the road was slow. Flatter areas of bog were energy sapping and the slow progress downhill was dispiriting and I was paying for my efforts on the climb. By the time I was at the road it was only about 600m back to the finish and I was pretty sure I could hold on for the win. I dug deep and finally made it round the games field to finish in 32.06. The wettest race of the year so far!

It was a great tough race route and there were even the cash prizes at the end - despite the games effectively being called off. So no excuses not to treat Emily, my wife, and Owen, my son, to scones and hot chocolate in the great cafe at the Old Firestation in Tomintoul.

Orkney bagging

2009-06-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Blotchnie Fold on Rousay, Orkney - an easy 5km walk or run along tracks and way-marked RSPB trail with an added bonus of no skuas or other dive-bombing birds. From the summit we could just about make out the light house on North Ronaldsay and the headland of Noup Head on Westray. Despite the sun the cold wind picked up in the afternoon hastening a retreat to the pub by the pier to wait for the ferry back to Mainland.

Almost a week later I headed on my own to Hoy to run a loop of Cuilag, Ward Hill and Knap of Trowieglen. It looked hard from the map with steep drops and climbs between all three hills. I was also worried about the number of skuas on the island, having been regaled by very colourful tales of vicious attacks.

The foot passenger ferry from Stromness to Moaness was very busy and gave me about 7 hours on the island. I had had a bad cold so was a bit worried about the time pressure. The day was scorching and I was already struggling in the heat as I slogged up Culaigs from Sandy Loch reaching the top in 40mins. A short section of road having provided suitable warm-up.

The top was covered in large loose squared-edged blocks, which had strange pock marks on them and a myriad of cairns. Haze spoilt the view a little, but I could still make out the hills in Caithness and Sutherland, mainland Orkney and the islands dotting the perfectly calm sea to the north.

I dropped off down a steep hillside, on short grass and heather to start back up Water Glen - which unfortunately had no water. Temperatures away from the breezy ridges was horribly oppressive. A few angry skuas swooshed overhead, but did nothing worse than that. After getting through the tussocky flat ground the going improved and the gravel ridge up to Ward Hill was very quick underfoot. In total contrast to the baking glens, the top was freezing - cooled by a bitter wind.

The decent off Ward Hill was short but brutally steep and my thighs were screaming by the time I reached the road. I was fading on the climb and did not enjoy the trudge through the rough ground of Stany Hamars to finally reach the top of the Knap after about 2.5hours of running. I had had enough so I dropped into Trowie Glen to paddle, splash and scramble down the gully bed. Slower but much more pleasant and fun than stumbling down the tussocks.

A quick detour past the Dwarfie Stane, Britain's oldest rock cut tomb, and a jog down the road top the cafe at Linkness. I got the last portion of Cullen Skink and chilled out fishing off the pier until the ferry came.

Kintail LAMM

2009-06-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

After the organiser's dire warnings last Wednesday of severe weather, the LAMM last weekend turned out to be the nicest mountain marathon I have completed. To be fair to them, the abandonment of the Welsh 1000er Race the same weekend gives an idea of what the weather could have been like. The weather was perfect - not too hot, good visibility and only the odd shower of rain with enough wind to keep off the midgies.

Kintail is a great area with plenty of hills on the various lists with a great network of stalkers paths, some in better nick than others. Al picked the B class and with my lack of long distance training it suited me to do something shorter too. Day 1 starting at Cluanie Inn was a interesting route, traversing into remote corries but avoiding too many tussocks or peat hags. The checkpoints were easy to find, although we messed up the only slightly tricky one due to me paying no attention to the checkpoint description. It was upsetting that we missed out on the summit of An Socach by about 500m. So a zero bag weekend for me.

The overnight campsite in Carnach (Glen Elchaig)was fantastic. Dry and grassy with even the sun decided to come out to dry our shoes. A far cry from my last MM experience sharing a tent with Henry Blake. There was about 2 inches of water sloshing about inside and a gale outside. Not very nice after having struggled around the Elite course on the OMM. Much more pleasant.

The less said about route choice on Day 2, the better. Our choice of route to the first checkpoint was inexplicable in the extreme. I can only blame our chasing start number, B13, for our idiocy. After that, once I had put my toys back into my pram, we had a great day in the sun. Enjoying some more fantastic running and some great downhills on our way back to the event centre to finish in 24 place.

The distance was about 24km on the first day and 20km on the second - both days much longer than any of my runs this year, but I seemed to cope pretty well with not too much soreness afterwards.

Meall Mor - Afternoon runs near Inverness

2009-05-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

The back of Ben Wyvis seen from Meall Mor, a hill behind Evanton.

One of the easy traps to fall into is believing that Munros are the only hills worth going up and it is all to simple to get dragged into mindless bagging. Suddenly you can somehow justify a 3 hour drive there and back to some highest point of some heathery wasteland just because it scrapes into the infamous list that Sir Hugh complied all those years back. The cost of fuel and a distinct lack of time between nappy changes has made me explore areas much closer to Inverness.

About 30 minutes drive north of Inverness, just past the Black Isle and Evanton, there is a superb range of hills, some of which reach respectable heights of over 800m, which can be easily accessed either from Boath or Loch Glass. Even the proliferation of wind turbines hasn't detracted much from the great views north and west. The tracks built for the turbines, and older ones for the forestry or estate uses, allow rapid and easy access to the tops. Despite being so close to Inverness, the area is generally quiee and with a whole host of low level routes possible too (also with the bike), bad weather doesn't necessarily mean you can't leave the car.

Loch More

The other day I had a superb 2hour trip over Meall Mor from Boath and back via Loch More, linking up estate roads in a 10mile loop. As I sat by the summit cairns the views over to Ben Wyvis - much more spectacular then from the Garve road- and over to the far north west were inspriring. And I spent a wee while working out running routes for the future - a run up past Wyvis Lodge looking very alluring. The only thing I wouldn't recommend would be the direct descent from Meall Mor east to Loch More. The hillside got steeper and steeper as I scrambled down crags definitely not marked on the OS 1:50000 map. With hindsight a northwards traverse to the stalkers path, then down to the loch would be much better and safer!

Glen Feshie to Tarf loop

2009-04-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my LAMM partner Al came up for some training. A mammoth run/walk from Glen Feshie southwards over 3 Corbetts and 2 Munros after a night at Glen Feshie bothy was set for day 1. Returning via 2 Munros back to the car at Achlean on the second day.

The bothy at Glen Feshie was fantastic and we had a good fire, drank some whisky and dried our shoes. Already wet after the 7km run from Achlean.

Next day, the 36km over to Tarf Hotel was hard. Starting with Leathad an Taobhain the days route was over a couple of other Corbetts (Beinn Bhreac and Beinn Mheadhonach) and Munros (Beinn Dearg and Carn a' Chlamain). A persistent gusty headwind coupled with mist and extensive bog made what I had hoped to be a 6 hour jog into a 9.5 hour slog. There was very little running and it took us a while to realise that following the grassier and drier stream beds was quicker than more direct routes over the tops. Reaching every top was hard graft and the temperature almost bitter. Not very spring-like. By the end my ears were ringing with the constant noise of the wind.

Reaching Tarf Hotel, set in a breath-takingly desolate landscape, we managed to find enough unburnt coal, scraps of bogwood and dry heather to get a half-decent fire going to keep the chill out of the air. We were so hungry we had to scavenge food - a pack of MoD Lancashire Hotpot saved the day. I could swear it had bits of lamb, but Al thought it was beef. An argument fueled by a full hip flask of Laphroaig Quarter Cask.

We awoke to sun, clear skies and a slight wind, which was from behind today.

The two Munros to the East of the bothy were quickly dispatched with easy running over short grass, setting off a huge herd of deer on the way. After dropping off the hills, the run down Glen Feshie back to Achlean was long, but the scenery was superb. Deep gorges with remnants of the old Caledonian pine forest made a stark change compared to the wide views of the wide straths and high rolling plateau of the Cairngorms. We nearly stepped on an adder basking in the springtime sun on the track. The first adder I have seen in the hills.

Despite the relatively easy day we still were on our feet for 5.5 hours.

Glen Roy

2009-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Glorious sunshine and balmy temperatures last Thursday.

I think the local inhabitants must have been a bit hacked off with the Ordnance chap when we came round asking for hill names. How else can you explain 3 Carn Deargs and 2 Leana Mhors in the same glen? Despite the lack of imagination shown in the names, it is a great place to link up Corbetts and Grahams. The air was a bit hazy which spoilt the views of the Grey Corries and Creag Meagaidh, but it was nice to be in the sun for once.

Hazy views and good running on Carn Dearg.

I set off up from NN330 909 on the south side of the glen up Corie na Reinich towards a shallow gully in the head wall still retaining a good depth of snow. The snow was steeper and more solid than expected with one small steep step that required the use of a sharp stone as an ersatz ice axe. I reached the top slightly more flustered than I would have hoped. The rest of the run via Carn Dearg and Leana Mhor was over short wind-blasted weather and grass, returning along the bottom of the glen back to the foot-bridge over the River Roy.

Winter is back - after a brief interlude

2009-03-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Quinag last Tuesday - just so I can remember what blue skies look like.

Winter is abck Jjust as I was getting used to all that sun. I think I even manged to get sun burnt last week during a brillant trip around 4 Corbetts up in the North West. The link up between Quinag and Glas Bheinn means a bit of a hike up the road, but it is so quiet and the views that good it doesn't detract from a fantastic circular route. Basically, I started up by the quarry carpark at the highest point of the road, traversed Quinag from South to North, dropped down to the road and finished up the North side of Glas Bheinn. Only 20km, but I was absolutely boxed by the end of it. Pushing the buggy up and down the canal doesn't equate to hill miles.

Quinag

On Saturday I raced the Craig Dunain Hill Race. Surprisingly, I got a pretty decent time (about 109% of the winner) despite having sore legs. It seems to be my downhilling that is still my weak point. I just don't seem to have the leg speed for the flatter bits. No problems with going up hill.

Looking over to the Munros of Glenstrathfarrer from Carn Gorm

Today, winter was back. I had a run up Carn Gorm near Cannich. Water, water everywhere... both of the liquid and solid form. My toes are only just thawing now. The brief glimpses of the surrounding hills and straths I got between snow showers were great, but the aweful running underfoot means I won't be up there again for a while!

Unfortuately, the high winds are set to continue, which is forecast to be followed by a rapid thaw. Sounds grim, and I just hope it is wrong as I still have a couple of days flex time to take.

Shetland Running

2009-02-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

Looking North from Unst - th emost northerly inhabit isles in the UK

It's just that time of year again. I have a horrid cold and I just can't get motivated. A very snowy week on Unst (and my first Marilyn of the year) just showed me how bad I feel at the moment. A walk up Valla Field (200 odd meters) was more than enough for me, granted the snow was knee-deep, but I was shattered by the end of it.

After all my work visits up North, Unst definetly wins ' Best Island' award with friendly locals, a pub, a cafe (that is open and welcoming) and a swimming pool too. The less said about Whalsay, the better. Lerwick isn't bad for a storm-bound day and the sports centre is superb.

From a hill runners point of view I have been disappointed by Shetland. Probably due to it's strategic location, most high points on Shetland seem to be littered with communications (mostly military I think) paraphenalia. Invariably this means great big access tracks too, but the boggy nature of the rest of the hills together with a general lack of walking paths, sometimes makes them the only real feasible option. All of this stuff does reduce the raw asthetic beauty of the place. On the flip side the coastal runs and sea-scapes more than make up for it, which is why you would come to Shetland in the first place anyway.

Other than that since the XC season finished for me two weeks ago I have been mainly ski-ing. The dump of snow in Inverness was enough to even get Fairways Golf Course in to good nick. Plenty of hills, wide fairways (for bad skiers like myself) and being located next to the office surely make it the XC ski-ing venue of choice in Inverness. All gone now though, and even Abriachen on Saturday wasn't an awful lot of fun with about a foot of wet snow. Very slow going. We tested Owen's off road buggy today on parts of the Nairn XC course and it stood up pretty well. Just need to wait for the thaw and we will get his first hill bagged!

Shed loads of snow! At last!

2009-02-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

Well the last 3 weeks have been hectic. Last weeks XC race in Nairn was a bit of a set-back. After such a good run at Inverness I was hoping for good things. A succession of interrupted nights though isn't the best thing for training or running so I was knackered before I started. The course seemed to be about half on sand-dunes and with a strong wind as soon as I was dropped from a group I struggled. No one to hide behind : ( The second half of the course was in the woods along technical single track. However, the course was for the most part flat so I lost time on those bits and to cap it off I got lost right at the end losing a couple of places. Still at 117% of the winners time not a total disaster.

Since then I have been cross country ski-ing and I think I will put the training on hold for a couple of weeks to get into this fatherhood thing! Anyway the snow has been great. The only issue has been finding somewhere to park! There must be a couple of foot in all the laybys south on the A9. It is great just driving 10mins to get to perfect snow.

Waiting, waiting...

2009-01-20T00:46:00.000-08:00

Well the child to be is now 14 days overdue with no induction date set. I know the NHS do a great job, but they do seem to be so disorganised and the lack of information they give you is shocking. One minute they say Emily is going up to labour suite and the next they don't have a clue when she will be induced. Not good for Emily who has now gone 2 days without meaningful sleep. I certainly wouldn't want to embark on Ramsay's or the Bob Graham with a preparation like that!

Anyway, I am a wee bit stressed out so have had to resort to exercise to knacker myself out so I can get some kind of sleep. Fortunately the snow has arrived so I have got out for a couple of very early morning short cross-country ski-ing sessions (all close to Inverness for that possible dash back to Raigmore).

I also had a pretty decent run at the weekend cross country race. Although I didn't feel fast, I posted a good time (113% of the winner) on a fast course.

Off for a nap now : (

Central Left Hand - Cairngorm Conditions

2009-01-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

We had grand plans today to go somewhere more interesting than Cories. However, lazyness won out in the end and we headed in to Snechda to do Central Left Hand (II). It was busy with climbers again, but most seemed content with the more popular gullies. I think The Runnel must have had something approaching 20 people in it at the same time. Conditions have improved as there is slightly more snow and icing than a couple of days ago.

Central Left hand was relatively quiet in comparison and was good fun with great hard snow.

Adding to the enjoyment there was a wee ice pitch near the top, which luckily was my lead. At least some screws had survived the unintentional gear-rationalisation i.e. we forgot it, which had left us with only two large hexes (along with some slings and ice-screws) for a rack. The ice was fantastic. With the brisk wind it was chilly on the top. A quick reminder of what winter is 'really' like up on the plateau. Just when I was getting used to all that Alpine weather.

Loch Morlich is still frozen by the way.

Chatting to some guys in Aviemore it seems as though there is some icing low down on Lurcher's but the top 100m or so is completely bare. So it was probably a good thing that we wussed out and opted for the safe option.

Roadside ice bouldering

2009-01-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

As I only had a couple of hours to get out today, I checked out the ice formation up in Torr Breac on the A835 north of Garve. The waterfall I climbed last year in the woods was in nick again and I had a quick boulder on some roadside ice alongside the A835. Not quite La Grave though ; ).

Conditions East and West!

2009-01-01T01:53:00.000-08:00

Yet more good weather! I am sure we are going to pay for it soon , but as long as the weather is good you may as well use it.

Tuesday 30th December saw myself and Kenny heading over to the Ben following reports of okay climbing conditions. I had something easier in mind than Thompson Route IV,4, but Kenny was keen and as long as he led the hard pitches I didn't mind. In fact it was a route I had been contemplating in a kind of it-would-be-nice-to-have-done-that . The narrow chimneys were well iced up, but the rock was dry allowing good rock gear placements. Embarrassingly I dropped my crampon from half-way up the first pitch. Miraculously, it stopped only 100m down on it's way to the CIC hut. I hopped precariously down No 3 Gully to collect it, but I was soon back up to the first belay. The first two pitches were nicely sustained and after an easier pitch (my first lead for ages), we got on to No 3 Gully Buttress which was rather bare.

Topping out to glorious sunshine again! The tourist track down was icy and tiresome and on reflection we should have dropped back down No 4. However, the lure of the sun and the views was too great on the day.

On the last day on 2008 I headed in with Juan to the 'gorms and climbed Spiral Gully with the direct finish (which I would really recommend) at III. It was extremely busy in the corrie, but the routes are holding up well. The footsteps in the gullies certainly make everything a wee bit easier than normal. Once again the skies were blue and there was no wind. A very nice way to round off the year!

With cold conditions set to last, the climbing will stay for a while yet. The paths are really icing up though : (.

Beinn Dearg - A very dry North West

2008-12-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

The cold, clear, calm conditions continue and what snow that has survived the thaw is bullet hard. Up in the North West there is very little left and even the gullies in north faces are generally not complete. Despite the lack of snow, the traverse of Beinn Dearg (of the recent re-measurement fame) in Torridon was good fun. The rock was warm, in complete contrast to the baltic conditions in the glens, and the easy enjoyable scrambling added a bit of spice to the day. Less fun were the steep grass and heather slopes up to and back down from the ridge.

Sgur Mor - Fanniachs

2008-12-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

We went over to the Fanniachs today for a Boxing Day run. I haven't been back for a while as I have already bagged all the Munros, but I have realised the error of my list-ticking ways. The running was superb, helped by excellent weather. Snow cover was extremely patchy and varied between soft and bullet-hard depending on the aspect. A temperature inversion was forecast and it did seem warmer on the summit. Sitting around in a thermal in December just isn't normal behaviour for me.

The main face had plenty of snow in the gullies, but unfortunately I have no idea if any of the routes were in nick.

Beinn Fhada - West Ridge

2008-12-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

A bad weather forecast in the east and heaps of snow in the west lead me to the conclusion that a walk or a scramble in the west would meet with the best chance of success. Seen from the bottom of Glen Shiel, the west ridge of Beinn Fhada is enticingly jagged and it is something I have wanted to do for a while now. According to the books there is one section of the ridge that can be problematic in poor conditions. So I decided to be prudent and packed a 20m rope just in case.

From the car we headed up steep grass slopes of Beinn Bhuidhe before we hit the snowline at 450m. Beyond this the snow rapidly became deeper and once up on the crest it was proper winter conditions. The ridge was fantastic. Long, surprisingly narrow, sinuous and with superb views both to the north and south. With about 4 inches of fresh snow covering everything, the slabby 'bad step' lived up to it's reputation. However, using the rope as a backup, the difficulties (about a 10m section of steep slab) were soon down-climbed and the remainder of the ridge was uneventful, although spectacular.

The way back was via a very well constructed stalkers path down into Coire an Sgairne, and then Gleann Choinneachain, continuing all the way back to the car. The glen was surprisingly steep-sided, much more like the kind of glen you see in Glen Coe with deeply carved ravines. The crags backing the coires were well plastered with snow and looked like they could offer up some good routes - once the snow has consolidated.

Streap - an Alpine day out

2008-12-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Looking back from Streap along the ridge.

The settled weather conditions have continued pretty much all week, with most areas enjoying consistently cold weather and clear skies. On Wednesday I headed over to Streap to take advantage of a day off. The true summit of Streap is hidden at the far end of a long ridge bristling with knobs and knolls. Several summits have to be climbed over before the final ridge of Streap is reached.

There was ice on the path from the start and it seemed to take a long time, and only after a hard slog up a very rough hillside and corrie, before I reached the ridge proper having followed the route indicated in the SMC Corbetts book. The bright sun had softened the snow on the lower reaches of the mountain, but higher up some freeze-thaw had been going on. For the most part the snow was ice hard, yet soft enough on the surface to make crampons un-necessary. The ridge was complex, with much to-ing and fro-ing to find the best line.

The summit of Streap is on the left-hand side of the picture.

I was stripped down to my thermal top and enjoyed the sensation on being on a mountain in the middle of a sea of sharp ridges and soaring peaks. After a couple of hours I reached the final ridge up to the summit which was steep but not hard. The trickest section in fact was dropping down off the top, but soon enough the continuation ridge eased and walking along the edge of the hard-frozen corniced ridge was spectacular, but secure.

Back down in the glen it felt colder than on the tops and the frost on the trees hadn't melted all day. Even though it sounds melodramatic, today felt pretty alpine to me. Sun, blue skies, frozen snow and a long ridge... Who needs the Alps?

Glas Bheinn - gully climbing - Loch Arkaig

2008-12-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

Another great day out in the northern highlands! I headed out with Dave to the start of Loch Arkaig to do a walk over Glas Bheinn, Geal Charn and Meall na h-Eilde. Glas Bheinn has a steep east face and is more craggy than indicated on the 1:25 000 map. We headed up the forest trails up Gleann Cia-aig until we could cross over roughly in line with the summit of Glas Bheinn. Just to the left of the highest point a gully cut through a broken buttress and from a distance looked like a easy romp. Getting closer, there seemed to be a steep icy step leading into a fairly well defined gully. The upper slopes of the gully had avalanced previously so the snow was hard packed and although water was still running behind the ice, there was enough to get over the 70 degree section. The gully continued with a few easier angled steps with a mixture of ice and frozen turf, before the final sopes were reached. From my experience about Grade I would be fair under the conditions, and with heavy snow fall could easily bank out. The buttresses to either side could offer up some fun, short routes in the lower grades.

The rest of the day was spent wading through snow around the two Corbetts. The views were some compensation to the hard work, but I certainly haven't felt that tired for a long time.

Glen Roy - Beinn Iaruinn

2008-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I headed out with Dave to Glen Roy to get in some winter walking and take advantage of the recent dump of snow. Surprisingly this coincided with a spell of cold, clear weather. The freezing level was very low and the drive past Loch Lagan in bright sunshine and azure skies was fantastic. We stopped in a layby to enjoy the weather and listened to the ice of the loch cracking and snapping in the morning sun.

The last time I tried to get up Glen Roy was in similarly cold weather and the twisting road was difficult to drive and I gave up. Today the conditions were worse, but we eventually reached the start of the walk despite a couple of near misses on the iced over road.

Glen Roy is noted primarily for the parallel 'roads' which scar the hill sides as though someone had forgotten to rub out the contour lines when building them. They mark the level of by-gone lochs caused by ice blocking outflows. On the way up the first hill, Beinn Iaruinn, we crossed a few 'roads'. They really were very level and uniform. Altogether much more impressive than any photos I had seen.

The snow was lying ankle deep almost from the road and was very deep in the rare places it had drifted. I was absolutely shattered and the climb up was hard work with powder snow disguising the extremely slippery rocks under foot. It was cold enough that the ground was completely frozen and my boots stayed dry despite the constant wading through snow.

Once we got up on to the plateau the going seemed much more straight forward although the slight wind was bitterly cold. Unfortunately high level cloud hid the Grey Corries from view, but the panorma over to Creag Meggy and the Window were superb. The low temperature made sure we didn't linger for long and we headed south to another summit (a Graham) before dropping back down to the road. All day I had been nervous about getting back out, but a few more cars had used the road so the drive back was a bit of an anti-climax.

After another fall in Inverness on Tuesday morning I headed out with Dave to get in some night ski-ing at Abriachen. Conditions were variable but as a whole very good and all good fun.

More Baggin'

2008-11-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

I am so looking forward to Christmas. Over the past weeks we have been rushing about desperately getting all our visits in to friends and relations before Emily sprogs in the New Year. Fortunately the conditions for climbing or ski-ing haven't been THAT good. By that I mean perfect, and I have been able to enjoy trips down to London and the Peaks without an over-riding sense of missing out.

It hasn't been all travelling though and I have still managed my aim of a Marilyn a week. The forested Bin of Cullen was made slightly more interesting as darkness set in just after I reached the trig point during my torchless ascent. My other hill runs have taken me over Beinn Mhor near Grantown which is a great viewpoint for the 'Gorms...

... and Dungavel Hill convienently within striking distance of the M74 near Abington. At last I am getting to run in a place I have always wanted to and it certainly helps break up the long trog to and from Englandshire.

On the same day I was running in the sun in the Borders, we stopped earlier at Slochd to play in the snow.

Training has been difficult. With everything concentrating on speed I have been doing intervals and short, but hard, runs up to about an hour. I thought I had cracked the XC thing when I reduced by time from 125% at Dornoch to 116% of the winners time at Elgin. Unfortunately a slight runny nose, exacerbated by very frosty temperatures, made todays course at Forres (despite being very hilly which should suit me) very tough. It was really demoralising to feel so bad and not be able to hold a decent pace. Ah well, I have a month until the next race so I will be resting a wee bit to get some enthusiasim back.

A perfect Cairngorms day - Andromeda

2008-11-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

I really wasn't that convinced by all the positive reports on the web going on about the fantastic winter conditions. So, I wasn't that fussed to be running a XC race on Saturday, which can only be counted at best as training as it was more a trail run. The weather didn't follow the forecast and it remained cold, grey and overcast. I was even less convinced when Steve called me about his and Kenny's climbing plans for Sunday. Going to the extreme of packing a book just in case the trip to the 'gorms degenerated into session in the cafe drinking coffee. We didn't even leave Inverness until 8.30. Sometimes it pays not to be so negative and when we arrived at the Corrie Cas carpark, it became rapidly apparent that the bloggers hadn't just being trying to justify their actions and drum up undue excitement. The only problem was there was too much snow for easy walking. I can never be happy!

After a brief route discussion in Corrie Nan Lochan we headed up to Andromeda (IV,4), hoping that previous climbers had cleaned off much of the loose snow. I was a bit apprehensive as I haven't really done that much climbing this year at all. The first pitch was scrappy and not well protected, but as soon as we headed to steeper ground the climbing and the protection improved. We took the very leftmost groove and the main pitch was probably the steepest climbing I have done in winter and I was over-joyed not to have taken any tension on the rope. There is something just so fun about mixed climbing and the weather, the company together with the sheer unexpectedness of getting some climbing done all made this into one of my most enjoyable days out.

The plateau was sun-drenched and still and for once there was no mad rush to pack all the kit away and get down. We ambled down Fiacaill Ridge just to stay in the sun. The easy climbing adding to what had already been a fantastic day.

(Very) Early Season Ski-ing

2008-10-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I really wasn't expecting to get my cross country skis out already. A day of heavy snow showers with the snow sticking even in Inverness meant that I just had to chance it up at Abriachen. Although the forest tracks are only about 250m-300m in altitude the place seems to be a real snow trap. It is only 15min from the middle of Inverness and has been a favourite place of mine for ski-ing, running and biking for a while now. It seems to be more often ski-able compared to other places like Farr or Daviot Woods.

So yesterday morning (Wednesday) I got up early and skied for over an hour on perfect snow (well for Scotland that is) and I felt very satisfied, although pretty sore, sitting back at my desk watching the snow melt.

Making waves on the XC scene

2008-10-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a month since I last blogged and what a wet and windy month its been. After having got long 'challenges' out of my system for the time being, my focus has been on the cross country season and the training for that has been short. That, together with having a fairly hectic work schedule in Shetland and Orkney, have made sure that weekends at home have been spent recuperating rather than being out for hours in the hills.

One great day out recently was a circuit of Binnein Shuas and Binnein Shios. These two peaks sandwiched between Creag Meaggaidh and Beinn a'Chlachair are very rocky and are well placed for panoramic views of the surrounding higher hills. The weather was cool but dry and stags could be heard in the high corries of the Munros opposite. Small slabby crags gave some interesting scrambling on the broad ridge. After descending very steep slopes and gullies from Shuas we slogged up wet ground up the next hill at an easy gradient. From the summit of Shios, we dropped down north to the wooded shores of Loch Laggan for the journey back to the car. Rather than the dreary plantation we feared, it was a fantastic contrast to the rocky hillsides of the peaks above. Some of the trees were huge and for much of the way deer tracks could be followed.

Changing from long steady runs to the faster paced efforts of cross country (hence the awful pun in the title!) has been pretty tough. My track sessions have not been made easier by the almost constant wind and rain. Still, I managed to support the Highland Hillrunners senior males to the clubs first ever District Relay Championship. Running 4km flat out nearly killed me (at an average of 183 beats per minute), but I did enjoy myself a lot more than I expected to. The Inverness Harriers (local rivals) were a bit upset at how things panned out and the local press decided to ignore the results as best they could. So with a win in my first ever XC race things can only go downhill from here!

So since then it has been blustery runs in the Northern Isles. Trying to train whilst watching waves crash against the cliffs a couple of meters away is a bit distracting. I shouldn't complain about going to places like North Ronaldsay and Foula for work, but I will be glad when I can get back into a regular training regime.

Glencoe - Allt na Muidhe watershed

2008-09-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

With a fine mid week forecast and a left-over bank holiday a mid-week bagging trip seemed a good idea. At the north end of Glencoe is the hidden Munro of Sgor na h'Ulaidh. Not content with such a small bag we decided to make a round of the watershed, so 2 Corbetts of Beinn Maol Chaluim and Meall Lighiche together with the Graham of Meall Mor were added to the route.

A small parking space off the A82 near Achnacon just opposite a stile made an ideal start point for the run up Fionn Ghleann to the first hill. It was surprisingly chilly and the first run for a while where I was glad of hat and gloves. We picked up sheep trods high up on the sides of the glen and made rapid progress to the summit. From Beinn Maol Chalium we backtracked and then traversed back south on a fantastic trod to the bealach beneath Creag Dubh. A couple of steeper rock bands interspersed with grass on a ridge led first to the Munro Top and finally to the Munro of Sgor na h'Ulaidh. The route coming off, following the fence in a north-westerly direction, had a sting in the tail when a wet, slabby area required some delicate scrambling before we got back to less steep ground again. Down in the bealach we came across an old gate leading from nowhere to nowhere. Along much of the route we followed old fence lines, marked now with the bare iron stanchions, the wire having long since rusted away. The effort and cost of erecting such a fence must have been huge.

The rest of the route up and over the broad summits of Meall Lighiche and Meall Mor was nicely runnable and even the final drop straight back down to the A82 was pleasant. Although only 10 miles, much of the ground was rough and steep almost completely lacking in paths with fantastic views both of Glencoe and the surrounding hills.

As always the weather was not to last and a very mixed day weather-wise on Sunday lead to the last of my Munros on Skye (Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr nan Eag) bagged. The scrambling on the ridge was easier than anticipated and this time round we made it into the Corrie with ease. Just follow the highest path (not well-cairned despite what the SMC book says) on your left and scramble up left of the left-most of the three streams. Easy really ; o) Only 14 Munros left for my boss who was really happy to have finally got the ridged completed. Rum looked impressive under the leaden skies and despite the heavy showers it was another long, enjoyable day out.

Trying to get fit again

2008-09-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

It seems ages since I last posted and it is probably because the weather has been so bad. There really isn't much to write about when all one has done is another run in the wind and rain. And the photos don't exactly inspire either! Saying that I have finally been getting the motivation to get going and start beasting myself again. No more long runs needed now so I have been concentrating on doing relatively fast paced efforts of up the 3hs maximum. As a result I have rediscovered muscles I had forgotten about and I am getting used to the effort required to run up hills properly.

Even with the weather I have had some fantastic runs all over the place including a trip to the Breacons in Wales and a chance encounter with the famously smelly feral goats of White Comb in the Borders.

The race I was training for, the Lake District Mountain Trial, was cancelled due to bad weather, but it looks like I might be racing the OMM Elite instead. Last year I didn't train at a hard enough pace and I paid for it, so this year I am going to keep the runs short, but go at them hard. I know I can plod for hours at a time so with a bit more strength and speed we might do a bit better than the 25th-ish place last year. My partner has learnt to navigate too so that should be a bonus. The only problem is that it is in the Lakes and apart from my Bob runs and the odd uni climbing trip I don't know the area at all well.

So my schedule at the moment is Monday and Fridays swimming or core work, Tuesday undulating trail aiming to do 10kmish in under 1hr, Wednesday steady bike with hills 1-1.5hs, Thursday hard intervals or hills. Weekends are for hill runs over round ground keeping them to a max of 3hs and trying quite hard.

In Defence of Marylin Bagging - Breac-Bheinn

2008-08-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

'There are no boring hills, just boring people' is a saying I love trotting out when my more Munro-obsessed friends and acquaintances mock me during the obligatory 'How many Munros did you bag?' questions on Monday mornings. This is in response to the withering looks I get when I admit to having run up esoteric delights such as the Hill of the Whangie. Often the views from the 'connoisseurs' hill are just as, if not more, spectacular and interesting than those enjoyed by their bigger neighbours. Breac-Bheinn at in Strathcarron is one such hill.

Strathcarron is probably one of the most unfortunate glens in Scotland, being owned by some of the most dubious characters that have ever had pretensions to be lairds. Those responsible for the brutal clearances, poignantly remembered in the etched graffiti in Croick Church, have been followed by numerous other unfriendly absentee owners of which the latest incarnation is Mr Lister. His 'Wilderness' was once the home of hundreds of people and his plans to exclude access, with a 30 mile 3m high electric fence, goes against centuries of access rights. The development of a Safari park is not a 're-wilding' and surely if Mr Lister was so concerned about returning the Highlands to a previous state, he would encourage people to move back into 'his' reserve. Thousands of years of human interference and interaction make the idea of creating a true Wilderness in the Highlands idiotic. The constant flux in the environment was brought home to me on another recent hill run I came across an area of deeply eroded peat. Exposed stumps and trunks of ancient trees a testament to the changing climatic conditions.

Breac-Bheinn is a suitable distance away from the Alladale Estate and the steady plod up heather made the views from the flat summit even more surprising. The views north and west were breathtaking. The Inselberge of the North-West coast rose prominently in the distance, made even more stark by the miles of conifer-planted wide strath that stretched out far to the horizon.

Admittedly the second hill of the day, Meall Dheirgidh, wasn't blessed with such views, but the short 2h jog was still comparable to any number of 'proper' hill days.

Another advantage of the lower hills is the lack of paths, cairns and, although it is elitist to say it, lack of people. All this makes the Marylin day much more of an adventure and a challenge. Of all the days out this year on the smaller hills I can count the number of other walkers or runners on both hands.

Worryingly those who I have met on these hills have more of the train-spotter about them than your 'normal' hill-goer. Sometimes, I suppose, the truth hurts and I can take solace in is the fact that with only two trains lines, Inverness Station has so little to tick that I can't think that I am in danger of changing sport, yet...

A wet Cullin weekend

2008-08-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am still not running as my foot is still quite sore. It is probably time to get it sorted out now that I don't have any key runs to do this year. Flat walks are fine but as soon as it gets rocky it tends to hurt even with walking boots. So going across to the Cullin to help my boss bag his Munros wasn't the best of ideas, but I felt it wouldn't be too bad for my foot.

Saturday was spent watching the rain in the car park in Glen Brittle until lunchtime when we decided to chance an attempt on Sgurr Na Eag. It didn't go well. Cloud was down to 100m and the burns were so high that we had to try and traverse round from higher up Corrie Laggan at the 400m contour, rather than follow the well made path. All the crossing points I have used in the past were several feet under water. The velocity of the water tumbling over the rocks was spectacularly violent. A doubt remained in my mind that even if we did cross would we be able to cross back if the rain continued?

There was a constant noise of water rising out of the mist. The weather was so thick that we couldn't see much more than 50m and we followed a bearing through rocks and deep grass around flanks of Sron na Ciche. Finally, we hit the path again which climbed steeply up Coir ' a Ghrunnda.

Following intermittent cairns over blocks of gabbro we reached an impasse. Above, polished slabs streamed water and the route seemed to zig-zag up next to a burn which cascaded over a rocky lip. I tried the slabs, but I was uncertain of whether we were on the right route and our ability to down climb on the smooth holds. The thick clouds clung to the rocks, withholding any views and distorting any sense of scale. Intimidated by the atmosphere and demoralised by the weather I suggested that we turn tail and head for the pub.

As soon as we began to drop down the path, the rain eased and the mists began to part. The doubts that always come on after having made a decision to retreat lingered. At the car, changed into dry clothes, it all seemed so easy when looking at the map for the umpteenth time.

Sunday, with an early start helped by the voracious midges in the Sligachan campsite, we headed up to An Dorus from the Youth Hostel to bag Sgurr a Mhadaidh and Sgurr a Ghreadaidh. I packed the rope just in case in deference to the guidebook description. For the first hour the showers came and went, but we had views into the Corrie so at least we knew where to go this time. Steadily the mists rose up from Glen Brittle obliterating the views and the showers turned torrential. We dragged ourselves up to the ridge over blocks and scree slopes with rain drumming so hard on our waterproofs that we couldn't hear each other talk. There was water everywhere and every runnel scoring the black cliffs above streamed white foam.

Out of An Dorus, a deep notch in the ridge, there are a couple of steep, polished moves out of the gap to either Munro. Both walls didn't really require protection and the holds were good. The rocks were tricky in the wet and thankfully for the most part well defined paths could be followed above. Small cairns decorated the tops which we reached more with relief than jubilation. Showers gave way, but the clag was omnipresent and as result it was not the most enjoyable day on the hills. Finally we descended out of the showers and the mist back to the glen. Just as wet but slightly more satisfied than the day before.

Both days were about 4.5hs which is about the time I am trying to limit any exercise to in an attempt to make sure I don't over do it.

Morning Glory

2008-07-23T23:04:00.000-07:00

I took this picture this morning from Beinn na Feusaige after spending the night camped up by Lochan Meallan Mhic Iamhair. Moments like this make all those days in the clag worthwhile.

Off to work now in cloudy Inverness, but somehow after being privileged enough to see a sky like that I don't mind at all.

Are you alright? - Ramsay's Round July 2008

2008-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

"Are you alright" asked Neil. I answered him the only way I could and began to projectile vomit. We were half way up Sgurr Eilde Mor and about 12hs into the attempt. Apart for a slight feeling of nausea, I had been feeling alright, but now it was looking grim.

60 miles and over 8000m of ascent over 23 Munros in under 24 hours was never going to be easy. A major coup was to find someone who was interested in doing it too. Talking to another Highland Hillrunner, Neil Speight, after a race in 2007 we both mentioned a faint desire to try Ramsay's Round. Somehow this all snowballed into a proper attempt this summer. Training schedules were worked out and warm up races planned. The only slight issue was a lack of people able to support as I had found the support crucial during my successful Bob Graham Round.

After much faffing we finally got some runs done in the Glen Nevis area and a date was set. Expecting no support we dropped off kit and food at strategic locations (Fersit, Loch Eilde Mor and Lairig Leacach) to be ready for the Saturday.

The forecast was not great; cloud at first followed by clearing skies and a fantastic Sunday was promised by Heather 'the weather' and MWIS. Predictably we set off up the Ben tourist track towards the clouds together with Dave who had come along for support and to bag Carn Mor Dearg. The pony track was heaving with '3 Peak Challengers'. Some of whom decided to inform us that we shouldn't be taking the short-cut to Red Burn.

Up in the clag we made good time, which we promptly lost by missing the line off to Carn Mor Dearg. Eventually we found the path much further to the right. Once on the ridge, the rocks were lethal and I went flat on my back. Not too much damage done, just a very sore backside and a sense of relief about avoiding a potentially disastrous slip.

The cloud level hovered around 800m but down in the bealachs we could look across to the Mamores which were clear of cloud. On Sgurr Choinnich Beag Dave dropped behind and myself and Neil carried on, enjoying the running. The springs were full and I was eating every half-hour. All we needed was better visibility as the constant greyness was monotonous.

After 6 hours we dropped down to our first food cache and had a quick clothes swap before the second major climb of the Round, Stob Coire nan Easian. The slope seemed to go on forever and I needed my MP3 player to distract me before we finally crested the cairn.

Dropping off the tops,the cloud had dropped lower and we ate our food at Fersit in drizzly rain. The presence of a potential lift back home from here was a strong distraction to continuing. However, Neil said nothing so I just resigned myself to the second leg although it did feel as though we were getting somewhere with this attempt. Brighter skies appeared everywhere we weren't and we headed into the cloud again, up into the hills. Chno Dearg was tricky to find and was the first hill where we were slower than schedule. A very demoralizing moment and I was worried as Neil seemed to have slowed dramatically.

Slightly lost, a fantastic scree run down lead us on a different line to Beinn na Lap. Although much further left we were able to gain the east ridge of the Beinn earlier and despite a slow pace we were up gain on time. The top was a huge milestone. Every step, every minute was going in the right direction.

Running down the rough ground from the summit to the railway with the buds of cotton grass glowing astonishingly brightly in the dark will be one of enduring memories. For once running on the track and path for the next couple of hours were fun in the dark stillness of the night. The skies began at last to clear.

The Mamores were silhouetted in the distance and acted as a clear beacon showing us our direction. We didn't push the pace, but it made no difference to the splits which we were beating again. Unbeknown to me Neil was seriously thinking about quitting, in fact doing anything that meant he didn't have to run any further.

Another quick food stop at Loch Eilde Mor and we were off again. I was wary of the last leg as I had heard plenty of stories about attempts going awry late in the day.

After being sick I did actually feel better, briefly. Strangely being violently ill had no effect on my moral and I was still optimistic. One look at Binnein Beag, however was enough to swing my mood back round to abject depression. The urge just to stop and sleep was intense. I was struggling to eat properly and all of the climbs hurt. It was now time to take the hills one at a time. We knew we were significantly up on schedule and we fought to keep the loses at each peak to a minimum. I was desperately trying to keep ahead of the game, whilst Neil encouraged me along, buoying me up with unbounded enthusiasm. Finally we were on the main Mamores ridge. No more huge climbs and the skies really had cleared. Faith was restored in Heather.

We followed every short-cut we had read about from Yiannis' article and other reports to minimise height gain. I was keeping on just counting down the Munros left to go. Every hour we were still moving meant one less hour of suffering. The pain in my left knee which had started as a niggle on Binnein Mor was now becoming more evident. It got worse with every climb. At least, despite the cloud reappearing in whisps, the route finding was straight-forward following well-defined, but rocky tracks. The twists and turns of the sinuous ridge and the annoying outliers frustrated me. I just couldn't see the point any more. To cap it all a chill wind picked up, whisking in wet blanket of cloud that quickly drapped itself over the peaks and corries.

Sgurr a Mhaim was my nemesis. I wanted to beg Neil to allow me to skip it out. I had been running for 20 hours so what difference would one peak make? Who would know? Anything to avoid the pain in my knees. Silently cursing I tagged the cairn, surprised to hear that we had only lost 3 min on the 23h schedule, and went straight back the way we had come. Only 2 more hills to go. Even in my addled state I was coming round to the idea of finishing this self-inflicted hell.

By Stob Ban (the second to last Munro) the pain in both knees was intense. Even walking on the flat was agony. No dull ache this, just sharp stabbing pains at every step. The only thought driving me on was the fear of having to go through all this pain again if we failed to finish within 24 hours.

I could see that we were shipping time by about 5 mins a peak so with a final effort we topped out on Mullach with about 1.5h to spare. Now we just had to get down! The final descent was awful. A desperate waddle down steep grass before meeting a path leading through the forest. At least this path was soft and muddy, meandering alongside a river bank and through plantation woodland. After a few ups and downs we finally dropped to a well graded forest track. The verge was grassy and soft, and with a time cushion of 45 mins we wandered down. Both of us in an extremely exhausted spaced-out state of mind.

There was no-one there to see us at the finish. Finally it hit home. We had finished with 45 min to spare. Together we had made it. For a moment it was all too much emotionally. After all that pain, effort, training, preparation and stress I could finally relax. My whole body ached, and I was tired, so tired. No elation, just relief.

Whether it was worth it or not is still something I haven't answered for myself yet. Mentally I am still drained and empty. Physically I am in pretty good state so I must be getting used to these kind of distances. A scary thought!

Successful Ramsay 12th/13th July

2008-07-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Just back from Glen Nevis after several pints of coke and some REAL food. Myself and Neil Speight, supported solely by Dave Raffe from the hostel to Sgurr Choinnich Beag, got round in 23:15. Exploding knees over the last 5 Munros lost us a heap of time, but after all that pain and effort there was no way I was going to miss the 24 hours.

The weather was mostly cloudy and although the food drops went well it would have been nice to have had some more tea at the breaks.

Highlights include running at dusk through swathes of cotton grass and the scree run off Chno Dearg. Also, exchanging abuse with a '3 Peaks Challenger' on the Ben.

Low lights include projectile vomiting on Sgurr Eilde Mor, extremely sore plus swollen knees on the Mamores and the descent off Mullach nan Coirean.

I will probably do a longer write up later after another nap.

Would I do it again? An emphatic NO! I will help pace though ; )

The Highland bl@@dy midge!

2008-07-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

We don't have heat haze up here in the Highlands when it is still and warm. Instead we have the midge. Cycling down the track from Loch Eilde Mor, after my food drop for the Ramsay, clouds of midges swirled over the track at head height. I hit swarms of them and they pattered off my coat mimicking rain, turning my legs black as the wee beasties struggled to escape the jellyfish-like tentacles of my leg hairs. Some poor folk had decided to camp at the end of the loch and I can only imagine the torment they went through that evening.

If the midge wasn't such an irritating bugger, the shimmering clouds could have been one of the wonders of nature. Perhaps allowing comparison with the other great marvels such as salmon migrating up mighty rivers or the huge flamingo flocks on the lakes in Africa. Instead all I was left wondering was where on Earth all the predators were which surely must feed on the midge. Dark thoughts only turned lighter by conjuring up ideas of staking naked to a post, either here or on Skye, those ecologists who insist the midge does have a role to play in nature.

At least everything is now in place for the attempt at the weekend. Looks like we wont be having too much company. Then again I am not a big fan of the huge groups of pacers/supporters/hangers-on which some runners deem necessary to have around on attempts of these kind of hill-running 'challenges'.

Ramsay - The Final Preparation

2008-07-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Another successful reccy last Thursday evening (26th June) on the eastern-most Mamores has pretty much confirmed that myself and Neil are as ready as we are going to be this year. So next Saturday 12th July will be the day/night for the attempt starting at about 10:30am in a clockwise direction. I am off up the hills tomorrow to organise the food drops and hopefully we will also have some minimal support for the day itself. My mood sways between confident optimisim and spectacular pessimisim as to the actual outcome, but I am prepared to give it a decent shot. Having almost no running support will make it harder, but all the more pleasing should we get round.

I have been down to the Lake District for the past week running and climbing and I felt pretty strong on the hills. The ache on the side of my foot is still there from after the Highlander, but hopefully nothing a bit of pig-headedness won't get me through. I have added some photos from the week so enjoy.

Running High Stile.
Blencathra smoking.
Sunlight above Buttermere.
Mine beneath Grisedale.

Ramsay Reccy - Eastern Section

2008-06-22T00:49:00.000-07:00

Last week myself and Neil decided to reschedule our attempt on the Ramsay to allow us more time to recover from races we had done and also get some more reccies in. Now it looks like we will attempt in mid July starting at 11:am in a clockwise direction. We had thought about a night time start as the first section will be slow anyway. What goes against that theory is that you start already tired so we have decided on a more conventional time. It has also been decided to use the 'Alec Keith' variation. This basically has you starting from higher up Glen Nevis and so you get a warm up on the road before the Ben, which is, unsurprisingly, the highest climb of the round. As this means doing the Loch Treig to Mamore section in the dark we headed out yesterday to check this section out.

Typically I didn't have my camera as the weather was perfect and the views even better. It was a pretty tough run, but checking the splits later that evening I was pleased to see that we were knocking a huge amount of time off the schedule on the climbs. Next time we can afford to take it much easier! I have been struggling with a cold too so I am even more excited that the day out didn't make it any worse. A couple of route choices got sorted as well as we found a couple of decent traverse lines that allow some of the more rocky sections to be avoided. We also got the descent off the Easians sorted for the first time which is excellent news. All in all the hills looked and felt a lot more manageable than I had built them up to be. Still it looks a long way, however I am pretty confident in getting round even if not in under 24h.

I think I will do another short run over part of the Mamores to check out the eastern most three. It is all looking up and hopefully the attempt itself will go as smoothly as the run did yesterday.

Dist 20 miles Time 5h 38min

Pabbay and Mingulay - Easy climbing routes exist too!

2008-06-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Mingulay and Pabbay, which lie off the southern end of the chain of islands making up the Outer Hebridies, are well known for the quality of the rock climbing and it was for that reason I have always wanted to visit. However, when the chance finally came I was aprehensive in the extreme as I hadn't been climbing well for years and sea cliffs have always been a particular nemisis of mine. I flicked through the guidebook and could find very littel under E1 and this was reinforced whilst trawling for tinformation on the internet. With this in mind I packed the kayaks together with the absolute minimum of climbing gear and thought that my climbing would be limited to some bouldering. Still the lure of a bagging a couple of Marilyns would mean that even if I got no climbing done it wouldn't have been a 'wasted' trip.

Even with the efforts to keep kit to the smallest amount possible we had a mountain of kit which was a real effort to get on and off the ferry from Oban and subsequently on to the small boat charted to get us out from Barra to the islands. Donald and his boat Boy James did a sterling job of delievering everything and everyone on to Pabbay. The beach and campsite were idylic. The island was much greener than expected and the beach would make the pages of any tourist brochure to the Carribean. The only slight downer was the relative lack of water, but the weather has been exceptionally dry for the past month.

Whilst the others set off to the Allanish Pensiular on the west coast I decided to check out a couple of crags opposite the campsite. To my surprise and delight I found a couple of very decent walls and spent a good few hours bouldering and soloing on rock that was never more than VDiff in grade. It is no exagaration that I didn't hold or step on a single loose hold. Testiment to the ferocity of the winter gales that help to keep the crags clean. In fact the holds were so good that even steep looking lines succumbed realtively easily. The topo below gives some idea of the routes which were about 10m long. Okay, not the most spectacular crag but only 10min walk from the beach.

The next day was spent checking out the boulders that were situated high up near the highest point of the island which has a trig point. Basically drop south east from the summit and in 5 min there are loads of 4-5m high walls of perfect rock with scores of problems at about the V0 (easy) level with superb grassy landings.

The 'Sugarloaf' boulder located in the col just before the final rise to the trig point i.e. north of the summit, probably had the best bit of bouldering on the island with a couple of harder problems which I had to get a rope on to do in comfort.

Not everyone is as happy to boulder as I am, but the other members of the group were well contented with the routes that they climbed and not all in the top-end grades either. Quality routes at VDiff and Severe were in enough abundance to keep most happy. Of course there are much longer and harder routes, but they are all documented so I don't need to mention them here.

After a further day on my 'Crag X' and fishing for Pollack we decamped to Mingulay. Mingulay seemed a lot more lush than Pabbay and the water supply was much better and the campsite even better. Evenings were spent soaking up the evening rays and watching seals play in the surf or sun themselves on the beach.

Here again with a bit of a sense of adventure you could quite happily climb at the lower grades without running out of things to do. On MacPhee's hill there is even a short inland crag covered in routes not much harder than VDiff. I am sure that the dedicated rock jocks will say that by not climbing in the high E grades on the massive cliffs you are missing the point. In a certain respect they are right, but climbing on perfect rock is relatively rare in Scotland so the chance to do amidst the puffins and seals isn't a bad substitute.

One day myself and Emly took a walk down the coast and chanced upon a rocky prominatory, primarily to watch the puffins from. I scared myself on a steep boulder problem and then put on the rope and discovered a perfect Diff. A great mix of steep steps and delicate slabs and would be worth a least one star on any other crag in the country. Whilst belaying Emily up the climb a seal came to watch and played for a while in the swell.

The next day was still so we headed out in the kayaks to photograph the climbing crags. On the way we looked over to Bernary and it looked so close and as the conditions for paddling couldn't have been any better we decided to chance it. After all the anticipation when we thought that the crossing would be too hard it was an easy 10min paddle. We walked up to the lighthouse to check out the cliffs. The cliffs on the south side were awe inspiring, 200m of steep rock with a multitude of seabirds of all different species constantly whirring about the ledges.

A last day was spent seconding slightly harder routes near the campsite which did involve abseiling and hanging belays. Again the rock was magnificant and plenty of new, or at least unrecorded, lines to climb. All the islands were idyllic and I definetly will be back and even find some new crags or routes that have escaped notice so far! There is no need for climbers of a moderate standard to be put off from going by stories of mamoth abseils and everything going at E5 or above. Saying that I really shouldn't be encouraging people to go just for the selfish freason of wanting the place to myself!

Bob Graham Round - Tips

2008-05-26T13:56:00.001-07:00

Selective memory is an amazing thing. After my successful Round in May 2006 I had almost convinced myself that the BGR was a pretty straight forward affair. After pacing an unsuccessful attempt this Saturday, Some of the forgotten painful memories were dug back up.

Rob had decided that 2am morning start for a clockwise round was for him. For me, that meant a very early start after only arriving in the Lakes at midnight from Inverness. Unsurprisingly I was not feeling wonderful at Moot Hall and after trying for a while to make Rob slow his pace up, I let him go up ahead on the climb to Skiddaw. At the top the wind was bitterly cold and I regretted leaving my gloves at home whist navigating through thick cloud in the dark. Route-wise everything went pretty much to plan and after srambling down Hall's Fell in the early morning light we reached Threkeld about 30 minutes up. I was glad to get rid of my fell shoes and changed to trail shoes (dumped along with food and water previously at the village green) which were much more suited to the dry conditions. Much of the Round is on hard stoney tracks where fell shoes are a major disadvantage and it is only Leg 1 and the start of Leg 3 which has any real off-track sections.

In comparison to 2006, I felt absolutely fine. Taking on about 1.5l of water and a load of food for the next leg made the bag uncomfortably heavy. The Dodds did not flow past as easily ashoped and despite the cloud clearing, the strong wind put a downer on motivation. After 4 hs of running I could feel my last race was still in my legs and decided then and there that two legs of support would have to do me.

The downhills were agony and I let Rob go off up Fairfield and Seat Sandal so as not to slow him down and put his attempt at risk. Perhaps it was that I had already completed the round that I had no compulsion to push myself any further and glady took the option of a lift back to the campsite which was offered to me at Dunmail.

The last I saw of Rob was as he plodded up Steel Fell still on schedule and after food and a rest, myself and the rest of the support crew headed over to Wasdale. Being a Bank Holiday every idiot was out on the roads. I have never seen so many examples of incompetent driving in such a short space of time. So it was a pretty stressed support crew that arrived in Wasdale where we settled down to wait for Rob to appear down Scafell. We waited and waited. No-one had seen Rob and when he was over an hour overdue, Steffi drove back up the road to get a signal on her phone. Rob was back at Langdale. Barely an hour after leaving us at Dunmail Raise he had taken a wrong turning and headed up to Ullscarf and beyond to Low Saddle. About an 4km trip in the wrong direction. Heat, exhaustion and lack of food intake seemed to have all played a part. Understandably he had decided to call it a day. A big dissappointment for not only himself but for the rest of us too.

I know it is very easy to be critical, but to be successful with minimal support does mean that you have to know the route well. However harsh it may sound a mistake like this under the prevailing conditions was almost comic. But in no way am I saying that I am myself immune from such mishaps!

My tips for normal would-be BGRers are:

Know the route off by heart. You never know if a pacer may drop out or get lost.
Start when you feel good - 2am I think is a bad time for anyone's body clock. 10pm worked for me and even 8pm could be good as you are on an easy section in the dark.
Get the feed and drink strategy right. I always eat and drink at least every 30mins on the dot even if I feel sick. More often if I feel thirsty or hungry.
Be kind to your support team by splitting road support between drivers.
Have a good base camp i.e. Threkeld / Keswick area.
If you lack sufficient pacers, save them for the later legs when you are more tired.
Don't pick a Bank Holiday weekend!
Be organised and make sure you have a detailed schedule for everyone. I know this may be a pain in the backside, but it does really help.

The rest of the weekend was great and I am sure Rob will have learnt from this attempt and will cruise it sometime later this year.

The Fellsman 2008 - the recovery continues

2008-05-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

I think my feet were worse after the Fellsman than they were after my Bob Graham Round in 2006. It wasabout 4 days before I could see the veins in my feet again and the blisters underneath my big toes were huge. It took some, okay all, my courage to drain them which didn't hurt at all and massively relieved the pressure. Both nails will still be lost but at least they aren't throbbing any more. In fact they look a lot better now. The nigle from the Highlander is still there, but no worse so I am hoping that in time it will get better.

Walking is now possible in trainers, but Emily still made me buy some lightweight 'walking' boots. The shame! This embarrassing shopping trip is perhaps only surpassed by the time I had to go into a climbing shop and buy a map case and compass ;o). I have managed to avoid the red socks and bobble hat but who knows where this Marilyn bagging will lead ...

Anyway, the results were posted on the Fellsman site on Friday and I came 9th in 14h 12 mins. Fantastic. Just the kind of motivation I need for Ramsay's, although after a few weeks rest I will actually be able to train!

I went up to the Cullins over the weekend to help my boss up over some of the trickier Munros of Bruach na Frith, Am Bastier and Sgurr nan Gilliean. It was hard work and the uphills were murder on my thighs. Still, a perfect day scrambling on Skye isn't something you get every day with sunshine and low winds. Sports massage on Sunday hurt, however it has really helped loosen things up, to the extent that I was doing intervals on the bike on the way home from work today.

It looks like I will be supporting a low key Bob Graham attempt on Saturday night. My aim will be to get the contender around at least Leg 1 safely. Depending on my feet I will take it from there. So another easy week ahead. The forecast looks okay so more ice cream is on the cards.

On a slightly worring note I had a health check at work and my blood pressure was 127/72 and my cholesterol at 4.8mg. Less pork pies for me!

Fellsman 2008

2008-05-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Every now and then you just have one of those races when it all comes together. After a two week taper I felt alright, but I constantly worried that a cold or some unforeseen injury would strike. In other words I was getting to be a bit of a hypochondric. Every 2 minute jog to the corner shop was analysed minutely afterwards for signs of a lack of form. Doubts lingered about the fact that my long runs were only about 20-25 miles and if that was really enough.

After a fairly chaotic morning in Threshfield we got bussed to the start in Ingleton. I was advised that my trail shoes would not be allowed (wrongly as it turned out as a couple of people got away with what seemed like road shoes) so I wore my Mudclaw 330s. Finally under blue skies and steadily creeping temperatures around about 300 'hikers' were set off at 9am. My rough gameplan involved getting up Ingleborough in about 45mins and taking it steady from there. It was easy to settle into a comfortable pace in the middle of the pack, but the sun was giving a taster of what was to come. The drop down from Ingleborough was steady but as soon as we hit the paving slabs, my thighs turned to jelly. The further into the valley the route went, the less wind there was and it was oppressive. I staggered along the road from Hill Inn and although only about 26C I wilted fast. Periodic streams allowed me to pour water on my head and I guzzled water, desperately trying to stay hydrated whilst struggling up Whernside. To add insult to injury a stream of runners steadily passed by. I was having a bad time and my ambition withered to just to getting to Dent before calling it a day. The misery continued into Kingdale as even on the flat bits I had no energy and pace. Still I was roughly on a 13-14h schedule and on the next climb I resolved to at least get to 40 miles before quitting.

After another refreshment stop, where I took on another litre of fluid, I decided enough was enough and I switched on my MP3 player. I was too miserable to enjoy the views anyway so I wasn't missing much. A bit of Bruce Springsteen and Die Toten Hosen and the hills didn't seem so bad. Where before I was struggling now I was even gaining on the runners in front. After Gragareth I began to enjoy the steady grassy running and after a horrible steep descent on a cobbled track I reached Dent in relatively good shape. The skies clouded over to provide some respite. Other runners about me looked as though they were struggling which gave me extra impertus to push on. Perhaps everyone was struggling?

Maybe it was the lukewam milky tea or the ibuprofen, but I felt so much better and enjoyed the next short section of road. In fact all the way to Fleet Moss past Stonehouses was steady and even enjoyable although the very hazy weather spoilt the views. The climbs felt never too bad and the music kept me jogging on. I was still keeping on a 14 -15h target and was happy that I could still drop some time and still finish before midnight.

I had heard much about Fleet Moss and the various ways around it. It looked grim from the roadside checkpoint, but I just took a direct line and plugged through. I hadn't banked on there being so much bog, but fairly easy navigation lead over Middle Tongue at last to Hell Gap and the track to Cray. The steadily dropping distance left to cover after every checkpoint was tagged was a superb motivator. Twenty miles to go sounds so much better than forty miles run.

Leaving Cray I had caught up with a couple of guys and I was keen to push a bit on the hills before the grouping up time, which is a safety requirement when it gets dark. I managed to pull away on the climb to Buckden Pike and opened up a gap so I had some 'waiting time' to recover. It also meant that I had some more experienced runners to help navigate the last bit to Yarnbury from Park Rash! Yarnbury took ages to reach and was a painful experience, staggering in the dark (in both meanings of the word) along hard tracks following an endless succesion of beacons. Once at the road we de-grouped and legged it down, through Grassington, past hordes of drunks in the local pubs and finally up the last cruel hill to the finish at the school. At last there was nowhere else to run to and I could stop!

Due to my mental state I can't recollect what time I got, but it was around 14hs and I placed in the top 10. An absolutely superb result for me and quite unexpected. So it looks as though my training and the length of taper did help. As soon as I stopped my legs locked up and I realised how sore my feet were. I was hot all over and my big toes were black and I was naseaus (in fact I couldn't eat until late the next day). Although my technique of training by running shorter runs at a harder pace got me the fitness, longer runs may help toughen up my legs and feet. I have no idea yet if I would do The Fellsman again, but I would recommend it whole-heartedly. Just don't expect an easy run.

Brin bouldering

2008-05-08T13:16:00.001-07:00

The 'Mecca' of Scottish bouldering according to some is located in Strathnairn near the village of Farr. Following the easy to use topo available on the web, myself and Kenny headed out on another glorious evening after work. Due to me being a wuss I didn't climb above V0, but still had a great time and still worth going to (especially the Bog Jungle area) even if you don't climb that hard. Some of the routes were a bit dirty (mostly the easier ones) and there seemed to be loads more problems lurking under the moss and lichen.

Taper time - The Fellsman

2008-05-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

It has taken me ages to recover from the 3 Peaks, physically and mentally. My training has been exceptionaly light for the past 7 days with only about 1h running in total and only easy cycling on the other days. After finding the 3 Peaks so hard I just hope The Fellsman won't be a complete disaster. The route is plotted out on my 1:25 000 and it looks like it should suit me with plenty of navigation and rough bits. I really haven't done enough mileage at all (my longest run being about 7hs), probably due to the great climbing conditions we had up here. However, my MP3 player is stuffed full of Die Toten Hosen (a sad hangover from my impressionable days as a teenager living in Munich) for the flat bits just to keep my motivation up. Also hopefully I will get teamed up (as it is in the rules of the 'race' that you have to group together at dusk) with some people who know the route when it gets dark! I hope to get a time of under 16hours so I just have to keep my head down and remember that good bits always follow the bad bits sooner or later.

Anyway to keep me away from running and worrying I found some old climbing clips on BBC Scotland (go to the 'watch' icon on the right hand side and then look in the 'Outdoors' and 'Sports' tabs). There are about 8 clips worth watching, just the thing for avoiding training and the washing up. Very entertaining.

3 Peaks Hill Race

2008-04-29T13:33:00.001-07:00

My first proper race of the season and a reccy for the Fellsman rolled into one. 24 miles and 5000ft going over the three biggest hills in the Yorkshire Dales sounded like fun. It wasn't. Having spent much of the winter up here either hill running or climbing I haven't had much oportunity for running on the hard and stoney tracks that make up much of the race route.

The race was certainly well organised with route flags every 10 or so meters and water stations. Crowds of spectators on all the ascents and 750 runners did make the event stand out from what I usually associate with fell running. However, sections of the route were really quite tedious and I quickly discovered that I lack pace on the flat. As soon as we hit hills I began to drop people whilst not even going too hard. Every level section was in contrast torture and I could barely hang on.

I dropped 3min from my intended 3h50 schedule on the first hill (Pen-Y-Ghent) due to the sheer number of people. A further 6 minutes driffted away of the long track section to Ribblehead and another 3 minutes on the last flat 'descent' of Ingleborough. So all in I came in after 4h1.27 in about 245 place. Cramp was a serious problem which came on about the 20km mark. Bad eating and drinking?

At I learnt a few things for the Fellsman. An MP3 player will be invaluable for maintaining motivation and pace on the flat bits, I am feeling strong on the hills, I need to eat and drink more regularly and I now have 24 miles of hard track in my legs. Looking at my heart rate with an average of 166 and a max of 188 I think I may need to train at a higher level to be able to cope with the stress of racing.

My recovery is going alright (I couldn't walk that well on Sunday) and a two week taper should just about see me right. Fingers crossed for the 10th May.

Kishorn Bouldering

2008-04-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

With only about four weeks until my first, and only, big race of the season I am seriously over-trained. During the speed sessions this past week my heart rate has stayed persistantly low and any attempt at increase in pace is impossible due to tired legs. It got so bad this weekend that all motivation to go running went out of the window. Instead I went over to Applecross for a pub lunch, followed by tea and cake before I finally got motivation to check out the bouldering in Kishorn. Well actually the boulders are just down off the Bealach na Ba. The largest, the Kishorn Stone, is obvious on the drive up from the loch, sitting as it does on a grassy ridge about 5-10 minutes easy walk south of the road. There is space for one car at NG811 408 which is about 500m up from the large car-park by the bend. Other than that parking is fairly limited, unless of course you want to park in a passing space. The rock is a hard, smooth sandstone and the boulders generally seem to have a reasonable clean side on the west and a steeper and dirtier east side with mostly flat (and dry) landings. Someone seems to have drilled a steel spike into the top of the boulder closest to the road. All boulders are accessed by a network of deer tracks and it wasn't even that wet underfoot. Lower down the hill, about 5mins further from the Kishorn Stone, there is a cluster of further boulders with varied problems ranging from very straight forward slab scrambling to overhanging desperates. Enough here to keep someone of my medicore talents happy for a couple of hours.

Sunday was worse as I felt so tired and ill on Saturday evening that I called off the planned climbing trip to the Ben and did some gardening instead. Perhaps a couple of days complete rest will sort me out. I certainly hope it does anyway.

Life isn't all bad though. On an evening run (about 28km in 4.5hs) over in Kishorn on Tuesday I chanced upon a great little crag up high on Beinn a'chait. Torridon's answer to Burbage North so watch this space for a photo-topo soon ; 0)

Loch Sheildaig - kayaking

2008-04-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

An Austrian sea kayaking? What ever next!

Too much climbing and running had depleted my Brownie Point cache to such an extent that a sea kayaking trip with Emily was the order of the day. We put in at Sheildaig and paddled round Loch Sheildaig on, mostly, calm waters surrounded by sea cliffs and snow-capped mountains. Apart from nearly capsizing after hitting some fish farming junk it was a great trip. Only two seals were spotted, but a skirmish between some sea gulls and some sort of eagle made up for the poor seal quota.

My shoulders and core muscles really felt it and I will have to get out more if I want to paddle around Raasay in the Summer!

Highlander Mountain Marathon

2008-04-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

A mountain marathon in the Highlands in April could either mean two things; completely crystal blue skies or shed loads of precipitation. We got both this weekend as high winds blew through snow squalls (although blizzards may be a better description) between brighter spells.

Friday night at the event centre in Torridon village was pretty grim and an anxious night was spent in the tent listening to the rain lashing against the fly sheet and being battered by sudden gusts of wind rolling down the flanks of Ben Alligin. Saturday was much better and at 7.30am we set off on a magical mystery bus tour to the other side of the hills by Loch Carron. Very unexpected. 'A' class had a slight twist where you could leave out one of the checkpoints of your choice. This had the effect of splitting everyone up and we saw hardly anyone all day. The checkpoints were in superb locations and the running was suprisingly good on stalkers paths and deer tracks. I have run and walked a fair bit round the area before, but the course took me to parts where I would have never had the inclination to go. After 30km of running we reached the overnight camp near Coulin after 7hs and unexpectedly in 5th place.

The overnight camp was much more pleasant compared to all other mountain marathons I have done due to the suply of cooked food, hot drinks, beer and a band. Still, I felt the need to heat up some extra food in the tent. It was less windy than the previous night, but there had been a dusting of snow. All in all a very cosy night, although the thought of another day trogging through snow was not that inspiring.

Day 2 was awful. My feet, having just spent the last 12 hours thawing them out, were agony after just 10min of running. This sensation ebbed and flowed throughout the day in direct proportion the the depth of snow and water on the ground. I was carrying most of the kit, but my partner had bad blisters and was struggling to raise the speed above walking pace. It took 2hs to get the first 2 checkpoints and even the spells of sunshine could do little to improve my mood. Deep snow and tricky terrain kept our pace to a minimum throughout the day. The combination of the pain in my feet and a frustration at the lack of running terrain made it all very demotivating. If Jonathan hadn't been so keen to finish I am sure I would have joined the dnfs. Eventually, we reached the 3 last rather cruelly placed checkpoints, having mastered a lethal near-vertical heather gully and a waist-deep river crossing, and finished having surprisingly only dropping one place.

I suppose I must have had some enjoyable moments out of the 7.5hs (25km in distance) we were 'running' for. Previously I have read somewhere that 'there are no bad days, just learning days', so it was without a doubt a day to learn something. Would I do it again? Most definetly!

Glover's Chimney - the video

2008-03-30T02:59:00.001-07:00

That's my climbing holiday come to an end. Neil and myself managed one final route in a very blowy 'gorms on Saturday. We shelved our orginal plans for Fiacaill Buttress as it looked it be covered with snow. Hidden Chimney II/III on the Mess of Pottage has always been in the back of my mind so we joined the hordes and headed over there instead. Despite a long wait for the second pitch it was a great route and well worth the two stars it gets.

Earlier in the week Neil took some footage of me seconding on Glover's and has now posted it on You Tube so the world can see how not to climb it here. In my defence my hands were absolutely numb, but still I must make sure my axes stick next time ; ).

Castle Ridge

2008-03-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic day on the Ben when the forecast was completely wrong. Neil and myself had Castle Ridge (III) to ourselves and fresh snow had covered all tracks of previous ascents. We spent a couple of very enjoyable hours climbing in the sun in thermals. With nothing too hard climbing-wise, great rock gear and belays it was perhaps the most pleasant days climbing I have had for a while. Getting off the top down to the halfway lochan was a bit of a chore due to soft snow overlaying ice and rocks catching crampons.

Glover's Chimney

2008-03-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Winter really has come back to the Highlands and it has snowed, snowed again and snowed some more. After a brief thaw on Thursday, when I climbed a thoroughly dripping Goat Track Gully (II), the artic conditions returned. It was another wild day in the 'gorms on Saturday when I did my annual ascent of Fiacaill Ridge (I/II). The conditions put me off the corries so on Sunday we went into Beinn Bhan on the Applecross penisular. The route we went into to do, Suspense Buttress (II/III), looked improbable for the grade and the impressive surroundings of Coire Na Feola were intimidating.

Ice was forming on the harder lines but the buttress were bare and whipped by spindrift. We headed up the scenically impressive Easy Gully (I) which is split into two runnels by an impressive rib. The snow in the gully was deep so we kept to the side walls and the last pitch was a great turfy groove at II. The route is definetly worth a couple of stars. The place has an easy walk-in, a safe descent and a real mountain feel.

After being snowed out on Monday in the 'gorms where we went XC ski-ing instead after an abortive attempt at climbing, we headed into the Ben on Tuesday to do a classic - Glover's Chimney.

Glover's (a those in the know call it) was a route I had heard alot about. It is an obvious gully and chimney line up to Tower Gap. It goes at III,4 with the crux at the very top. Given a guidebook length of 150m we expected a fairly easy day. The first ice pitch was steady III and after a bit of a rope stretch a block belay was reached. More icy grooves followed slightly left of the main gully to avoid deep snow. After two pitches in the gully, there was an icy steepening before the final chimney. Some hard back and footing lead up through the chimney to the gap after significantly more than the stipulated 150m climbing length. The gap was startling for the drops off to either side. I was man-handled over the far side of the gap and we went up Tower Ridge for a couple of hundred meters until we finally reached the plateau as the light began to fade. On reflection the route felt much more sustained, even the lower pitches, and technically difficult than the other classic IVs I have done recently on the Ben. Maybe this is just a reflection on the conditions we experienced and my inability to thrutch efficiently! Anyway it was a 13h day and today was a well deserved rest day.

A truely mixed week

2008-03-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

My holiday has really started well. On Monday myself and Juan headed into the Ben to do Green Gully (IV,4). Unfortnately another party had the same idea and got to the route ahead of us. The gully is pretty narrow, so due the amount of snow that was lying on the ice we got a fair battering from above. Nothing too bad though. It was a great route and the steep sections were fairly short-lived and protection was okay. Some of the peg belays have seen better days but the ice, when dug out, was great. Less snow would have been better and some freeze-thaw can only improve matters.

Time: 9H

Tuesday saw us on Curved Ridge II/III,3 which was our first route on the Buachaille. Somehow I started up the right hand side of Crowberry Basin and climbed a nice rock chimeny pitch before easier ground and a traverse back across the Basin lead back to the route. The first two pitches were nearly snow free, but the route got more snowy and better the higher up we went. Although nowhere hard, it did seem quite a long route. Again the weather was superb aside from a number of squally snow showers.

Time: 7H

Wednesday's weather was excellent again, so after a quick run up and down the Pap of Glencoe (1h 20 from the Youth Hostel)we decided to go rock climbing in Polldubh, Geln Nevis. Juan's foot wasn't doing too well so I ended up doing some climbing on my own. The routes were polished, but the rock was warm and I can see why this place is popular. Perfect rock slabs set amongst Caledonian pine forst, ringed my snowy peaks. Just a great place to be.

Thursday was a proper Corries day. A thaw was forecast along with 70M and hour gusts, and we got it. The corrie was deserted when we got there for about 9am and even after we got down there were only a few other parties around. Visibility was initially great, but then the wind picked up and the higher up we climbed the worse the snow got. Goat Track Gully (II) was just about in and there was a decent amount of ice on the crux. A lovely short steep corner with superb rock gear just where you need it. Some kind soul had even left some in-situ. Belaying above in the wind-driven spray from the rapidly melting snow was less fun. Al, up from Bristol, lead through and we traversed off on to the Goat Track back to a full breakfast in the Mountain Cafe. A truely Scottish experience.

Torridon Bouldering

2008-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

An easy day today and I got distracted from Marilyn bagging by the superb bouldering

near the youth hostel in Torridon village. I was a bit sceptical about the quality so didn't bother with buying the local guide, but next tiem I am there I will. Still, there is lots to go at at all grades and the only drawback is the slightly boggy ground. Wear wellies!

Sron na Lairig

2008-03-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

With heaps of snow and a good forecast for Saturday it seemed an ideal opportunity to head to Glencoe and so avoid the hordes who would be trooping into the Corries. I headed in with Steve for a great easy mountaineering day on Sron na Lairig, a three star II. The walk-in, described in the guide as long, was only an hour to the bottom of the route.

We soloed up mixed ground and short gullies to the second steepening and then moved together for the rest of the rocky crest. The narrow top section of the ridge was superb with large drops on both sides and, with the bright blue sky and soft snow, the route felt almost Alpine.

Time: 5.75h

Corriechollie to Kinlochleven

2008-03-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

This was definetly not my idea. However, as my sense of humour was falling in direct corelation to my blood temperature of my feet, I was too concerned with getting out alive before hypothermia set in rather than finding someone, Lisa, to blame. Recriminations are best done in a pub or failing that the cafe in the Ice Factor. Unfortunately the cafe was still about 2hs away. A sobering thought as the horizontal hail lashed into my eyes every time I tried to see where the vague path went. At least we had the common sense to cross the swollen river via a bridge by Creaguaineach Lodge rather than attempr to swim from Meannanchan bothy. A stunt for which the factor up by Spean Bridge had recommended a diving suit for.

Hours earlier it had all seemed a good idea. I admit I less keen than the others with the idea of running 18 miles in heavy showers and near gale force winds. Perhaps being cooped up south of the border does strange things to the mind. On the plus side I would get to reccy a 10km section of the Ramsay. So it was with only slight misgivings that I dropped the car off at Kinlochleven. I fervently prayed that I would see it again before the end of the day. The first hour from Corriechollie (over the river from Roy Bridge) was along easy tracks along Lairaig Leachach, taking in views of Munros to the right and Corbetts to the left. It was only past the bothy that the path dissappeared into the bog. Overhead, the showers were brief and the sun shone even more briefly. And, for moments, I was enjoying the running and the scenery. However once over Abhainn Rath the hail started and the temperture dropped sharply, as did my morale. This section of the Ramsay past Staoineag bothy was awful. Wet and no path. Beyond the bothy it gets worse and cowering beneath my jacket hood, I didn't even get any views to compensate fot the almost constant immersion in ice-cold water. Only in Scotland can water be that cold without freezing!

Once on the hydro-track to Loch Eilde Mor the rain stopped, the sun came out, my feet thawed and the wind swung round to a headwind. I checked out the support point for the Ramsay (a ruined bothy just by the track), pulled all the spare clothing I had and jogged down with the others to Kinlochleven for tea and medals. Begrudingly I must confess that it was good training, although I was so tired, motivation-wise, on Sunday that I missed my hill sessions. It was good to meet up with my friends although I might suggest the pub would be a better place for a blether next time.

Time 5hs Distance 18M

North East Buttress - Ben Nevis

2008-03-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

NE buttress (IV,4) is the most obvious of the ridges that are thrown down from Ben Nevis on the eastern side. It was first climbed in 1895 and a tale of a subsequent ascent also in 1895 by Tough and Brown in horrendous weather makes a fine read. Our (Kenny had been persuaded to take a day off work too) journey from Inverness was much less epic, and less memorable, but I suppose we only had one day off work. Notwithstanding the fact that they don't make mountaineers like they used to.

Snow was lying from near the bottom car-park, but it was only until we reached the base of the route that we had to break trail. A long traverse above the First Pinnacle from the left-hand side got us on to the ridge proper, where the real climbing began. Deep drifts lay on the easier angled sections. In contrast, ice was plastered into all of the cracks and gullies. Great for climbing on and in the lower half thick enough for screws. Expecting a rocky ridge we had nearly neglected to bring along any ice-specific protection. The three rather blunt screws we had were put into use on almost every pitch.

After a series of excellent steep ice gullies the snow field was reached. An energy-sapping slog up waste deep powder ensued before belaying under an overhanging wall. From now on it all got a touch harder as the ice thinned and the protection more spaced. Even after cleaning, the cracks were verglassed and flared. At one point I got myself totally commited about 15m above any gear before I could make an uncomfortable traverse into a niche where I found myself a block to wrap a sling around. A couple of pitches further on I somehow missed out the 'inescapable' Man-trap and ended up on the Tough-Brown Variant. Forty foot corner was unprotectable, although ice hooks may have helped, but gave fine climbing.

Finally, we topped out to a glorious sunset, relieved and elated to have finished the route about 5hs after starting. The climb was excellent, although totally different to what we expected. The length of the route and the spaced nature of the belay and runner placements (under the conditions we experienced I hasten to add) made it a commiting outing of a sustained nature with no real crux standing out in my memory.

Time: 11hs

Cairngorms - Sunday

2008-03-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

It was just one of those days. Despite snow all the way over Slochd, the closer we got to Aviemore the less snow there was. Plans for XC ski-ing were shelved and we headed into Mountain Cafe for a full breakfast. Two coffees later I had enough motivation to run from Inverdrurie to Glen Mor where Emily had hoped to show her sister the reindeer. I suppose I shouldn't complain as the run through Rothiemurchus Estate was as good as trail
running gets. I spent a while trying to photograph this blighter, but he/she proved far more intelligent than myself.

The area is crossed with nicely graded tracks with snow covered mountains as a backdrop. For me, this area is one of the best bits of the Cairngorms and much more interesting than the rather tedious plateau areas.

The weather was nowhere near as bad as forecast and I was a bit disappointed not to have found someone to climb with as the conditions in the Corries looked good. However, training-wise, it was much better to get the miles in and the 10miles felt pretty tough. It is prudent to mention that I got another Marylin (Ord Ban) bagged ; 0)

Time: 2h 10 Distance: 10M

River Evelix Round

2008-03-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

My two big challenges for this year, Ramsay's Round and The Fellsman, both will involve some running in the dark and exercising during the more unsociable hours of the day. Accordingly, I have developed a new scheme for super-early starts for long runs mid-week. This also means my weekends are more free for climbing and other things.

On Thursday at 5.45am I set off from Clashmore near Dornoch for a 20-odd mile run around River Evelix including the tops of Beinn Dimhnaill and Creag Ghobhair, both of which are Grahams (sorry Marylins). The first hour was dark and made more interesting by disappearing paths and rabid dogs franatically barking from every farm I passed. Even more scary when you can't tell where the hellhounds are and even if they are chained. Seeing the dawn breaking over the Dornoch Firth was more than adequate compensation for the early start and for the most part the running was very pleasant. As I got higher the hills of the West looked stunning with caps of very white snow enhancing their rugged character.

Droping back into the woods above Clashmore at around 9 o'clock was one of those great running experiences. Shafts of sunlight breaking through stands of Caledonian Pine, birds calling and startled roe deer breaking out alongside the track as I jogged along. A couple of miles before the finish I came upon an abandoned covered water tank. Behind the decrept wooden door I could hear the slighlty omonous dripping of water. Against all my better instincts I was drawn into opening the door. It was dark and dingy inside as you would expect. My imagination went into over-drive and I could practically see the balloons and the 'IT' clown. I slammed the door shut and took off, my heart rate soaring. Still trying to be rational I kept catching myself looking over my shoulder half-expecting to see a clown with an evil grin chasing me down!

Distance: 20M Time: 3h 45 Max HR 166 Av HR 144

Ben Alder

2008-02-24T08:29:00.001-08:00

The weather can today (Sunday) be best described as frustrating. An early morning start to get into Ben Alder to have a look and do one of the ridges was pretty much a waste of time. Our attempt fizzled out about 5km into the inital 15km bike approach to the bothy due to a mixture of heavy showers and wind. Judging by the number of cars at Dalwhinnie station the bothy would have been busy. I was surprised to see how much snow was left as Carngorm was pretty much stripped. To save something from the day we went up a Graham on the east side of the A9. The blizzard showers continued all day and the wind remained high. In between the horizontal waves of snow brief glimpses of Ben Alder down the glen teased us and by the time we had dropped off the hill it looked considerably whiter than in the morning. Hopefully we have enough of a winter left to go back up for a second go.

Good Friday

2008-02-17T03:53:00.000-08:00

Some times following the masses is the right thing to do. After a week of good reports from the Ben (Nevis) and high pressure I headed out with Kenny to see what was there. There was more snow than I had expected, however most of the routes weren't in great nick and the likes of Tower Ridge and Observatory looked more like rock climbs. Up high there was a decent amount of ice and we resigned ourselves to queuing on Good Friday (III). Tower Scoop was busy and we took a direct line over a couple of ice bulges up to the start of Indicator Wall. A bit of a calf burner on superb neve and more entertaining than traversing all the way in from Gardyloo. We then traversed into the gully of Good Friday and found only one other party on it. The gully lead to the base of stepped ice fall on the right. It felt longer than it looked and was superbly protected by ice-screws and I set up a screw belay after about 40m with the last of them. Two futher icy pitches at a fairly easy angle lead to the sun and a top out on to the plateau. The views were fantastic. After lingering on the summit we down-climbed No. 4 Gully whilst a Royal Navy helicopter was busy rescuing a walker who had ventured up Gardyloo Gully without axes. We definetly need some more snow to bring moer of the routes back into condition.

Time: 7Hs

Glen Tromie

2008-02-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

High pressure over the Highlands has resulted in wide clear skies and heaps of sunshine. Unfortunately, there has also been a pretty major loss of snow cover, however low temperatures during the night has resulted in the snow left being rock-hard neve. To get out and enjoy some of the sunshine I headed out with Johnathan to get a run in before work. This made for a very early start and the first hour from Tromie Bridge up Gleann Chromharie was in the dark, requiring compass work due to the myriad of tracks. The run up the glen to Meallach Mhor at the head was pretty hard work following a faint track, but the frozen ground made it more pleasant than it could have been! Looking at the surrounding hills most of the snow seemed to be restricted to gullies on the north faces although Ben Alder and Creag Meagidh looked very snowy. We returned to the car down Glen Tromie which is tarmaced all the way so was hard on my knees.

Time: 3h 25 Distance: 17M Av HR 138 Max HR 162

Carn na Loine

2008-02-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the motivation is so hard to find. I spend hours agonising over whether I really want to go out. Every time I finally drag myself out of the house, sometimes with a helpful push from Emily, and I love it. In whatever weather I feel so much better doing something, anything. The joy of being outside and physically active seems to dispell even the darkest of moods. Today was a great example of the carthartic properties of hill running. I headed again down to Dava 14 miles in land of Nairn, but this time headed south on the disused railway track under overcast skies in the direction of the Cromdale hills. Even these relatively modest hills were skimmed with layers of cloud. Even further south and east the tiger-stripped lower slopes of the Eastern Cairngorms indicated the extent of the past couple of days thaw. After about 5km a track lead off to Upper Derraid and I then followed quiet country roads to Knock of Auchnahannet. Without the dark, oppresive patches of dense conifers it would easily be mistaken for the Dales or Mid-Wales. The pleasant nature of the route carried on up a track to the bealach near Carn na Loine where I turned due north. Despite the next 4km being over tussocks, bog and heather I was now fully warmed up physically and mentally. Earlier negative thoughts about life in general had been successful met head on and dealt with. The summits had views which allowed the beauty of the area to be appreciated. Maybe it is just me, well it could be as I very rarely see anyone else on my runs, but these areas of rolling hills and deserted glens hold as much interest and beauty as any other area of the Highlands. At Black Loch, which really was black, tracks were rejoined and in an hour I was back at the car next to the AA 'phone box, strangely devoid of a telephone.

Time: 3Hs Distance: 16.5M Av HR: 145 Max HR: 165

I stopped on the way back home in at Tescos to grab in some food. It was packed full of people, most of them too wrapped up in their lives to take a moment or two to take stock and actually look around about them. All of a sudden I felt very lonely and I noticed as I used the Self-service till that I hadn't spoken to anyone at all during the whole day. It may have been better that way as they would understand me as little as I understand them. Perhaps this is where I should come to get motivation for that next run.

Red Gully - Cairngorms

2008-02-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Today was an absolute cracker. The wind was, as forecast, high and there was a bit of spin-drift but the skies clear. All buttresses were plastered and the Goat Track was a sheet of ice covered in a layer of wind blown snow. The orginal plan for Western Rib was soon shelved and we decided to have a go at Red Gully (II/III) as it was out of the wind.

I had the first pitch, the only pitch with any real climbing in it, which was in alright condition just bordering on III rather than II. There was some ice on the steeper sections, but not enough to keep me completely happy. The gear was good in the side walls and near to where you needed it. Unconsolidated snow covered much of the cracks (plus easier angled ground) and gear did need some excavation. The rest of the gully is typical I/II territory, but good fun all the same. I finished with frozen eyebrows and serious hotaches, but once on the plateau it all seemed worthwhile as the visibility was superb and less wind.

There were plenty of people out today ski-ing and climbing before the predicted thaw which is threatening to strip the place for the weekend.

Time; 5hs

Cairngorm conditions

2008-02-03T03:38:00.000-08:00

High winds were forecast all weekend and with the avalanche hazard high due to the large dumps of snow I decided to give climbing a miss and instead had a brillant day cross country ski-ing around Badguish (10.5km in a very leisurely 3hs). The cover was a bit thin under the trees, but it was a fantastic day under blue skies, pleasant temperatures and decent snow. Higher up in the corries the winds were high,but some friends reported less snow than expected (and managed to get a good route done).

Today, despite the forecast, I headed up with Rob to see about getting a route done in the corries. At the car park it was wet and very windy so we couldn't even be motivated to leave the car so we headed back to Inverness via the cafe in Aviemore. Much of the snow has melted and with fairly warm temperatures forecast the burns will be up in no time.

Warm, wet and windy

2008-01-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

There was a, hopefully, brief break from winter this weekend and the temperature was in double figures for the first time in ages. So I went for a run to look for the snow and I found it!

It was a good run from Contin Forestry Commission car-park, over the top of Torr Achilty (a Marylin) past Torr Achilty dam (where the plume from the tail-races was huge), along Loch Achonachie, up over Achilty Oakwood cross-country to Cnoc Dubh and down to Roggie Falls. Easy tracks then led back to the car. Some sections were a bit rough under-foot but it was still worthwhile to get something out of the day.

Time: 2h15 Distance: 10M Av HR: 138 Max HR 164

So far I haven't really been reachng my training targets in terms of distance. Instead I have been more focused on time which is a great cop-out ; ). I really am looking forward to get in some reccies of the Ramsay in a few months time.

Dava Moor Snowy Run

2008-01-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today I headed out to Dava south of Forres for a 15M run route linking up an Old Military Road off the A939 (NH997391) over the Knock of Braemoray along the Dava Way (http://www.davaway.org.uk/index.html) to Bantrach and then back along estate roads, following the River Divie back to Dava. There was snow on the roads from about 200m and the cover was up to a couple of inches at about 400m. Squally snow showers increased the cover during the run and if the thaw isn't too bad tomorrow, and the weather forecast alright, conditions could be good for the weekend. With another couple of inches the moorland tracks and disused railway would make great skinny ski-ing. Thigh-deep heather on the Knock was the only downside to a great run in a very desolate and empty landscape. The abandoned cottages and remains of the railway were poignant reminders of what must once have been a very busy glen.

Time: 3h 15 Distance: 15M No HR data as I wasn't wearing my 'bra strap'

Western Grooves - Shelter Stone

2008-01-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Just back from a superb days climbing. The snow was great and made the 2 hour walk to Sheltre Stone Crag a joy. The 220m long climb basically goes up the face opposite to the camera and in the new guidebook is IV, 5 (IV,4 in the old). The cruxes were all short and well protected, but I can say that I was being belay bunny for the day! Conditions on the route were good with some ice and well frozen turf. Some of the snow wasn't particulary good i.e. not consolidated and the winds had stripped much of it off the steeper rocks. The wind picked up through the day and was irritating towards the top. However, the air temperature was relatively mild which helped keep the experience relatively pleasant. It was my first real mixed (basically climbing on rock with crampons and axes) route and I loved the techincal problem solving nature of the whole thing. As we were climbing in a three (thanks Kenny and Steve) it took a bit longer and we finished at 4:30. The walk back over the plateau wasn't too bad and the bit down Goat Track in the dark was a sublime experience, almost Alpine.

Time: 10h of which 4h were walking with a heavy bag.

Edderton Hill

2008-01-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

Morangie Forest near Tain boasts 3 Marylins, unfortunately all are protected by conifer plantations which results in the runs up them being either on forest tracks or bashing through forest or knee deep tussocks. From the road-head at Rhanich (NH708 811) the footpaths marked on the OS no longer exist on the ground and the forestry tracks are a bit confusing to say the least. Recent felling has also altered the map so our route up Cnoc an t-Sabhail was not the most direct. Once through the trees we ended up on a boggy nightmare that is the hill top. From the cairn though the views were great and depite the bitter wind the sunshine was very pleasant. In an attempt to get in the miles we were aiming to go a long way round on tracks back to the car. However, we quickly discovered that all of the tracks were covered in sheet ice. Discretion was definetly the better part of valour and we decided to cut the run short and explored some of the ruins, including a pub, left over when the area was far more busy with droving traffic. There are also some great ravines left over from the melt-water of the last ice age.

Definetly an area for trail running rather than hill running, saying that the track due west of the road-head is a cracker.

Time: 2h20 Distance: 12.5M Av HR: 139 Max HR: 171

Abriachen Ski-ing Conditions

2008-01-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

The woods at Abriachen (http://www.abriachan.org.uk/) has a network of built trails ideal for biking and running. The Great Glen Way also runs through it before heading to Blackfold and ultmately Inverness. Happily, when the snow line drops to about 350m the area seems to hold the snow well and is good for cross-country ski-ing. Larger dumps are needed for the mountain bike trails to be ski-able, but relatively small amounts of the white stuff bring the entensive forestry tracks and GGW into condition. The only problem is the lack of circular routes when conditions are thin, but that is a small draw-back for mid-week ski-ing. I rate this venue higher than Daviot and Slochd, but you never see anyone ski-ing here. Where else can you ski see-saws or boardworks?

On Thursday I headed out in the morning and evening (with Dave) and got a couple of hours on the skis. The tracks down from the cairn were really too steep for me to ski down, but I only walked for a couple of minutes. In the evening the moon was so bright and the sky so clear that I didn't even need a headtorch. Far off in the distance the lights from the Glen Doe Hydro project lit up the clouds like some bizarre Mount Doom. The views are wide across the Monaidhliath plateau and the Morar mountains to the north. The cold made the snow quite icy but it was still inspiring to be ski-ing only 15min from Inverness.

So the next time the snow gets low and the hills down the Great Glen are white just take a risk and head up and you may be lucky.

Ord Hill and beyond

2008-01-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday was just one of those days when it is hard enough getting out of bed, let alone thinking about going out to train. The cloud was down to 100m, it was raining and about 2C. However, after cooking Kath a suitably large 'Scottish Breakfast' and a rather less traditional version for Emily, that horrid nagging feeling of guilt made itself known. I 'needed' to get out for a couple of hours so I decided to head out to Ord Hill (a great place itself for off-roading running and biking), just North of Kessock Bridge, and run along the coast for a bit. A true sign of bad weather is when you get fully kitted up in the car, and although I hate running with full body cover it was too wet and windy to contemplate anything else. To add to the fun, despite the rain, some of the tracks were still covered in sheet ice and even snow.
My route was initially through Ord Hill (counter-clockwise on the landrover track) before dropping down on the signposted route down to Kilmuir following the shore line path (tidal in parts). From Kilmuir I climbed a bit on the road until another track branched off just by the farm buildings down to the shore again. After a couple of minutes on a indistinct track along the frozen salt marsh I headed up a vague path through a gate slanting up left to the hill side. After a short while this turned into a track (not marked on the map) which I followed steeply to the top. At the well made driveway I turned left through some manicured grounds to Taindore. From here I picked up some great single-track through the woods heading back SW towards Kilmuir. There seemed to be quite a few distinct trails weaving around in these woods above Pitlundie. It would be definetly well worth exploring the area on a mountain bike or on foot.

Somehow, I ended up back at Kilmuir and followed the route back to the car, adding in some hills in Ord Hill on the way back. The OS 1:50 000 map really isn't that useful and the area really does have a lot more trails (and also feels a lot more extensive) than it suggests. The car park at Ord Hill does seem to attract 'doggers', but as long as you don't flash your lights or using your wipers at inappropriate times you should be pretty safe.

Time: 2hs Max HR: 165 Av HR: 141

Post Box Gully -Sgorr Ruadh

2008-01-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the waether forecast was amazing and with the snowy and cold conditions of the last week it was decided to head to the North West as the more usual stomping grounds would be heaving. At Achnaschellach the ground was crisp and frozen and the snow line was about 600m. Everything looked very white and imposing against a picture postcard sky. The walk-in the Sgorr Ruadh was straight-forward on a well-made path, but thin smears of ice were present even at low levels. When we finally reached the snow we found it was not quite as good as expected, sometimes bearing your weight whilst a few steps later depositing you into several feet of powder. Under the insulating layer of snow the turf was unfrozen and we soon decided to back off Academy Ridge, our objective, in favour of something easier. Pox Box Gully, just round the corner seemed to fit the bill and I was soon engrossed in the first pitch, which involved climbing a rock tunnel behind a chockstone. Somehow I managed to get in a very good Warthog and summounted the very steep unconsolidated snow that barred entry into the cave. Due to the size of the chockstone very little snow had been deposited underneath it and the ice that was there was too brittle or thin to be useful. After a couple of false starts I hooked my way up to the top of the tunnel and squeezed through back out to the gully on top of the chockstone. In the gully the snow was deep and good to climb on. It was only on the steep sections, where you had to put force on your axes, that it began to fail. Kath, up from Edinburgh to get back into climbing, did a brillant job of seconding the pitch, but she left my Warthog in situ. Apparently it was my fault for placing it so well. All in, the first 40m had taken over an hour and if it didn't get easier above we were in for an epic. The next pitch was less steep and I quickly belayed 45m higher beneath an almost vertical wall of snow about 3.5m high. Once Kath came up and took over belaying I headed up and after floundering nearly to the top, a 1.5m section of snow slid off taking me with it. Kath by now had a sense of humour failure, but I was all up for having a second look. My falling had removed much of the snow and consolidated what remained. I was able to hook and scratch my way up over the bulging rock and completed the rest of pitch much more easily. At the top we came across footprints from our friends who had perservered with Acadamy Ridge. Kath again seconded with much more style than I could muster and lead off up following the footprints. It was now nearing 3 o'clock and I was getting worried as the guidebook mentioned meeting Acadamy Ridge. Did you meet the ridge where it was easy or below the harder section? If it did the latter we were stuffed. As I neared Kath's belay I could see a large rock tower up on the left. The footsteps, however continued straight up and on the sky line I could see our two friends waiting for us. Their lack of urgency and packed bags reassured me they had finished their climb. On my final belay I looked across to the Torridon hills in the distance and reflected on a climb that had pushed me physically and mentally.

As an aside I wore my heart rate monitor all day and to my surprise found out that I was working pretty much in my endurance training zone (70% of my max heart rate) all day. I didn't have the presence of mind to measure it during the route though ; ). Still, the 8 hour day should have done my endurance some good.

Cross training - my thoughts

2008-01-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

I am a big believer in cross training i.e. doing other things than your main sport. I know most runners just run and probably being specfic to one sport will give the best chance of performing well, but I just can't do it. If I ran 5 or 6 times a week I would just blow up or get injured within the month. But, perhaps it is my inability to concentrate on one task at a time that is the problem. Still, looking back at past seasons some of my best results have been achieved off 30km total running miles a week. I am in no way claiming to be good, but I have won the odd race, completed the Bob Graham with limited fuss and completed the OMM Elite so I would like to think I am a fairly competent fell runner. So, my weekly training at the moment is a hard short run (1h), a track session and one long run (2-4h) at the weekend. To that I add 2 long (1-2h) steady bike rides, some yoga sessions and a swim session. The amount of running seems quite low compared to a lot of other fell runners out there and I will just have to see in May whether my approach works for ultra races.

The main advantage of my approach is that it leaves a day on the weekend free just to have fun and not feel guilty about 'missing' a training session. After my cold and wet run near Inverness (just past Balnain) on Saturday around Eskdale Moor (the one up here not the lakes) which was 10M long took 2h over a mix of estate roads and rough moorland (bagging the peak Carn nam Bad on the way), I went east with Emily on Sunday. The forecast was great, but the main worry was the distinct lack of snow near Inverness. We put the hiking boots in with the xc-skiing stuff and it was only until just past Dufftown that there was snow on the ground. When we finally reached Clach forest however, (do a search for Huntly skiing on Google) there was snow everywhere and we had 3h of superb skiing. My technique leaves a lot to be desired and was a bit of a all-over muscle workout. I know I have just held forth on me not being a slave to a training programme, but I still felt the need for exercise so I went up Tap O'Noth, Scotland's second highest hill fort, which wasn't very far but steep. The 'short-cut' on the way down ended, as it so often does, with an ingloriuos battle through gorse. I had to stifle my frustrated yelps of pain as walkers wandered by a couple of meters away on the perfectly good path. A fantastic end to a great two weeks.

Heavy snow???

2008-01-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

So whilst the rest of Scotland is seemingly inundated with snow, up here in Inverness there is barely a dusting. Forecasts for heavy snow up here have been a bit optimistic and I will have to wait a bit longer for some cross-country ski-ing. It still feels cold and sunshine has been limited. Still the views yesterday from Dores down the Great Glen on my road bike ride were great. I put boiling water in my bottle which was ice cold within about 30min. The odd glimpses of sun were a real bonus and helped put those dark thoughts of returning to work behind me for a bit.

Today, Friday, I was meant to be taking it easy so I headed up to Tom Bailgean near Loch Duntlechaig. It is a small heathery hill with a mast on top with a south face of short conglomerate walls. From beside Loch Ceo Glais I headed up the obvious deep-cut gully in the south face for a bit of scrambling (with a couple of steep steps) and then slithered down the track which serves as an access for the mast. There was quite a breeze and the semi-frozen track was tricky in my disintergrating inov-8s. I used my new heart rate monitor to make sure I didn't try too hard which seemed to work. All good fun and even more stats to play with ; ). Still, another good short run near Inverness and back in time for tea and medals.

Time 30min, Distance 4km, Height 219moa, Av HR 149, Max HR 170

Sea King-tastic!

2007-12-31T09:37:00.000-08:00

Despite the tone of my last post I managed to get a couple more days in before the end of the year. On Saturday I ran a superb of two Grahams and a Corbett on the west side of Glensulaig near Fassfearn returning down the glen track. The weather slowly improved all day although the decent off the southerly most hill was significantly steeper than I wanted My aging fell shoes really weren't the most suitable tools for the job and I was very relieved to get out of the snow line which was at about 400m. The rest of the run went really well despite getting very numb feet on some of the climbs. The track in the glen was mostly there but degenerated into bog shortly before the bothy, which was a bit dank but looked fine to stay the night in. It was a good hard run and I definetly felt it in my legs on Sunday.

Dist: 20km Time: 3hs

On Sunday I headed out to Creag Meagidh with my wife and some friends from Uni. The new path up to the lochan is superb and Easy Gully (I) was in good climbable condition with a suprisingly good depth of snow. Much of the harder routes were not quite there yet and have probably been stripped by todays thaw. The day ended up with an interval session as I mislaid my wife in the white-out conditions on the summit plateau. The RAF were on a training mission in the area and were happy to come back to look for her and she was soon located on the path about 10 minutes from the car park. Several lessons learnt there!

Dist: 16km Time: Lots!

After yesterdays epic it was decided that a nice easy day was required. Up to the corries by Carngorm and we found some good icy bulges The routes looked thin and the snow was slushy so we were quiet happy to just link up icy weeps up the Goat Track at about Grade I but very escapable. We finished up over Carngorm to help Lisa get her Munro count up. The Ptarmigan station was busy with skiers and I left with the impression that only in Britain could a ski-centre open with such bad snow conditions! Yet again the forecast was wildly wrong with lower winds and much better visibility.

Dist: 6km

Last training of 2007

2007-12-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

The last week of 2007 hasn't been too bad weather-wise and I managed to get a few decent training efforts in. Too many pies and beer though. Christmas Day wasn't white, but instead we had wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. Up on the hills just above Inverness there was a bitter wind and everything was still very frosty and all the bogs frozen. I got out for a couple of hours before heading home to cook the lunch. I went out above Dalness south of Cawdor to a hill called Carn nan Tri-tighearnan. Outwith the estate tracks there were some serious peat hags and in parts the only way to make some kind of forward progress was to drop down into the re-entrants themselves. It was disorientating not being able to see where you were going but at least it was runnable and out of the wind. Right on top of the hill someone had laid out numerous snares for the snow hares whether for their fur or flesh I have no idea. From the trig point I had great views over to Ben Rinnes and Ben Wyvis but the Gorms seemed to be covered in great rolls of cloud. All within less than 30min drive of home.

Dist: 10km Time: 1.5h Height: 330moa

The rest of week went well with a mixture of long lie-ins and nice training rides. Heres to a successful and enjoyable 2008.

Fun in the sun

2007-12-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

The high pressure is still sticking with us and the frost is so heavy in places it is almost snow-like. It has been hard working in the office when the skies have been blue all day (well at least when we have daylight). Long lunch beaks with mountain bike rides (about 1h10min in duration) over in Ord Hill and Culloden Woods have helped keep me sane.

On Tuesday I went up for a quick run around Meall Mor, a superb little hill that is prominant on the east side of the A9 just before Daviot about 10min from Inverness. The deer have been busy and there are a whole host of narrow tracks once you manage to get above the forestry belt. With the good weather we have been having, the views from the cairn stretched from the granite tors on Bheinn a'Bhuird in the south to Caithness in the north. Another reminder that size doesn't (always) matter. The 5km run was suprisingly tough and took me about 40min.

On Friday I couldn't stand it any longer and headed out past Garve to Strath Rannoch, and did a bike (10km) / run (7km) up to the Graham of Carn Loch nan Amhaichean. The weather was superb and the ground so frozen that my feet stayed dry even in running shoes. The stalkers track from the farm marked on the map wasn't quite as good as expected but the heather was managable. I sat around on the top for while and enjoyed the views over to Scaraben and Ben Wyvis. The run down the SW ridge was very quick and was followed by a very cold bike as the sun had left the glen. Back at the car parked by the bridge at Inchbae it was -7C despite it being just above freezing in Inverness.

On Saturday I headed out to Torr Breac just past Garve and climbed a couple of short (10-15m) easy pitches on a frozen waterfall. I was surprised that it was in such good nick despite being only at 100m AOD. All good fun. I am feeling fairly bushed after all the biking, but the weather is forecast to hold so no doubt I will be headed out tomorrow.

Temperture Inversion

2007-12-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

North Scotland has been languishing under a temperature inversion for a least a couple of days now. This means that it has been absolutely baltic down here at sea level (-10C) but much warmer up in the hills. We have had superb blue skies but those are soon to go as soon as we get closer to the weekend.

I got a 10M run in on Saturday near Inverness in the Dumnaglas Estate. The head keeper didn't seem too keen but let me do my run and I did my best to avoid his pheasants. No shooting is allowed on Sundays so I would probably schedule my next run or bike accordingly. There are some great tracks and the one through Conagleann would be a very fine afternoon ride or run (although you would have to do a bit of running on the road). In making the effort to go to the lower hills I have finally realised there is so much more to Scotland then Munros and Corbetts. Within 20min drive from home I was in some seriously wild country. Unfortunately this very wildness is making it vulnerable to 'green energy' developers as they see this area as un-used and therefore any easy target. It would be a shame to 'lose' these quiet, undeveloped areas so close to Inverness for quick hit finacial benefits for absentee landlords, corrupt councillors and energy companies. Rant over!

To help my climbing partner get fit I went for a wander on Sunday to have a look at a bit of the Ramsay Round. Unfortunately the clouds were too low to make the trip much use. Still, my thinking is that the more I recognise on the attempt itself, the less stressful it will be and make it easier to recognise if/when I go wrong. It is a bit early for new year resolutions, but I really must get out running with my co-attemptee for some joint reccies.

The Adventure Show was about the OMM tonight and I got in shot a couple of times. It brought it all back again and I definetly hope to be back doing the event again. Perhaps with better training (faster but shorter long runs) and better navigation (orienteering races) I could do slightly better.

Back to base

2007-12-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

Finally my motivation is returning! After a month of not feeling positive at all about running, now or even in the next year, I am getting back into it all.

Over the past couple of weekends I have been getting out quite a bit, despite the weather and the lack of daylight. It s very depressing when it gets light at 8am and dark again by 3.30pm. That's why I suppose head torches were invented.

At the moment I have been sticking to short-ish runs (2 to 2.5hs) but have tried running all the hills. Absolutely knackering for a plodder like myself. A couple of weekends ago I had a Marylin bagging session on great trails in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh (as an escape from christmas shopping). Got all my Christmas presents too! To escape the crowds I wandered into a running shop and got some new trail shoes. I had some gait analysis done and, apart from the staff all coming to have a look at my horrendous style 'he is very bow-legged..... how do you run like that?!!!', it seemed useful. I am currently trying some Superfeet and some more supportive shoes (only on road and trail). To get in the mileage for the races / challenges I have planned next year I reckon I will do a good deal of trail running as up here snow can seriously curtail hill running over the winter months. Last time I ran high mileages (for me at least) on trails I got injured. Fingers crossed that it wont happen this season.

The weekend just gone I had my first snowy hill runs. Saturday was good despite the grim forecast but getting over to Braemar for the running club meet was horrendous. A 2h drive took 4hs after we had to do a massive detour to avoid the high roads. Sunday was just dreich but again I felt strong on the hills and managed to hold my own on the club run.

I went out in the hills above Loch Quoich on Tuesday to find some sun and got some of that but more snow than bargained for. So what should have been about 1.5hs turned into a 3.5h snow plod. The ridge was quite complex and a bit itimidating in the mist on my own. Coming off the summit I had superb views over to Knoydart and the South Glen Shiel Ridge.

The short section along the road back to the car was enlivend by a number of stags feeding on silage that had been left for them on the verges. It was probably the closest I have ever got to deer in the 'wild' and must make the stalking in these parts easier!

This weekend is looking like it will be a warm one with high winds so it looks like some low level runs are on the cards.

First Winter Route of the Season!

2007-11-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

Winter has arrived with some furry on the high mountains up here! After a wet and windy mountain bike ride round Glen Feshie (again) on Saturday it was an early start on Sunday. We left Corrie Cas at 8.00am and walked in to Corrie nan Lochan. The snow started properly at about 700m and got progressively deeper. An annoying mix of super hard neve and knee deep powder. I was trail breaking too, but all good training I suppose.

As the clag was down and it was bloody freezing we decided to do an easy gully so headed up to Y Gully Right Branch. There was plenty of snow and the first pitch was a mix of superb snow ice, soft powder and crusty ice. Nowhere too hard but protection not easy to come by. Finding a belay took some work but I got an excellent hook in after extensive excavation. Juan led the second pitch while I stood on a small perch freezing, at least I thought at the time, to death. Everything was coated with a thin layer of ice and my toes and fingers took it in turns to go numb.

After a while I got the tugs on the rope and I set off up the snowy groove, front pointing and loving every minute of it. About 20m up I looked up and saw that the next 10-15m of the groove was filled with what looked like pack ice. My climbing partner, in the process of trying to maintain upward momentum, had transformed the goove into a raft of snow-ice tiles. The tiles were stacked at crazy angles to each other on a bed of soft snow. I made my thoughts light and levitated my way up avoiding any downward pressure. A couple of meters further my partner looked down at me and very quietly said that the belay was bad and I shouldn't fall. I believed him. As I climbed on past him I inadvertently destroyed the belay. At least I was leading and I could do something about the situation rather than watch nervously as I cautiously climbed further. A few more moves on the same bad ice saw me on to steeper ground and I carefully climbed up to the cornice. Making sure my feet were well placed.

The snow here was deeper but the angle pushed me back. Knocking off the cornice, the wind blew the snow back into my face smoothering me. At last I could reach up over and get my axes planted into the firm neve of the plateau. I rolled on the flat ground and crawled away from the edge. As I did so I heard a shout of alarm from below as a large 6 foot slab above my belayer sheared and hurtled down the gully. After my hotaches subsided I brought my partner up and at last we were on flat ground, albeit in a white-out. The walk back to the car was pretty uneventful apart and as always dragged along the built path that winds through the rather drab and deary landscape. Hot chocolate in the flesh-pots of Corrie Cas and then back to Inverness for tea and medals!

Off-season!

2007-11-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I have done any proper running. That really is the great thing about having an off season. I know 'season' sounds very grand and much more scientific than what is really boils down to is the fact that I can't face anymore hard training or races this year. Not having to go out for a run and then feeling guilty about it.

So with this in mind the past couple of weekends have been superb. Mountain biking in Glen Feshie (trailmaps available from Bothy Bikes in Aviemore) along superb narrow swooping single track in the sun, Munro bagging in a snowstorm in Glen Doll with an overnight camp,

watching waves,

and more midweek Munro bagging in Glen Lyon (Inveran). Cheshunt Estate (on the web too) must surely figure amongst the most obstructive estates in Scotland. Of course that nutter up in Alladale Estate (more info on their website) takes the biscuit with his 30 miles of electrified fencing. But what really bothers me about the Cheshunt lot is the fact they try and make walkers (I assume they tar runners with the same brush) guilty for taking legitimate access due to the damge we cause. Strange, I thought over-grazing was one for major issues which is caused by the huge number of deer, not baggers, in the hills. Of course Argocats ferrying fat, gun-totting 'huntsmen' up to bag that stag has nothing to do with erosion. I went up the hills anyway on the assumtion that most of these idiots need a standing target for them to shoot and that I should be able to out-run them. I had a great day in the hills on superb running terrain and met one walker and no deer or 'stalkers'.

Today I was up over in Tomintoul to try out some biking there (trailmaps can be down loaded from the Glenlivet Estate website). Not as good as Glen Feshie but still worth while whilst the bigger hills are storm bound.

Just a couple more weeks off then back to training proper. I even have a traingin plan which I will post soon, along with a target race plan, when I feel brave enough.

OMM kit thoughts

2007-11-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

Well it is now two weeks after the race and I have been chilling out and taking a complete rest from running. My feet were so swollen and I felt so tired that I decided a break was in order. So instead of running I have been planning next season and spent ags writing and rewriting training plans. Intervals are definetly back in and hopefully I will be able to up the intensity of my runs, especially the long ones. I was very surprised at the pace and needto be strong enough to at least jog through tussocks. Need more strength on the hills but at least I was quick enough on the downs

So I don't forget I will just put up a kit list from this year's OMM and hopefully I will be able to minimise it for the next one!

Lowe Alpine Rush 25l rucsack - too big and heavy
Rab Quantum 250 short sleeping bag - superb and very warm sleeping bag
Therma-rest Prolite short - heavy but floats and helps with warmth
Laser Comp tent- superb, warm and 'friendly'
NF Apex jacket - heavy but windproof so will probably take a light weight fleece instead as when it rained I put my jacket on anyway
NF s/s light thermal - warm enough and drys fast
lyrca tights - warmish but had very bad thigh rubbing on day 2 so shorts or vaseline next year
Helly Hansen wind pants - dry fast and warm
Gloves / hat - both got very wet and didn't dry perhaps try lighter ones that dry faster
Marmot jacket - heavy but seems to work well enough
Bargain bin waterproof trousers - shite and need some decent light ones
Pocket rocket stove / gas - foil wind shield made an enormous difference
Titanium pan - get a titanium kettle and use foil packet trail food??
Wool socks - warm but can I get away with lighter?
Food - together we ate 1 soup, 1 hot choclate, 2 curries only on the overnight and 4 oat so simple in morning - seemed fine
Running food - not enough sugar - need more instant energy as nuts and dried fruit not good enough so drinks powders and mars bars to satve off the bonk

The total weight was just under 5kg so should be able to knock off a few hunderd grams.

OMM Elite 2007 - Lowther Hills

2007-10-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday 28th/29th was bad. High winds and rain. The only silver lining was it was due to be mild, so at least I wouldn't freeze on the overnight camp. I had been nervous about the event for the past couple of months and it felt strange lining up to register in the elite class. After a beer with some friends I retired to the tent only to be woken by my running partner arriving at midnight.

In the morning with the sacks already packed we had nothing to do apart from eat and get to the start line for 8.23am. Again I felt nervous but by now was pretty much pysched up for what lay ahead. Picking up the map at the start it looked such a long way so I just folded the map to split it into managable sections The first couple of control points were no problem and the running generally good, at least on the downhills. The hills were all very steep and we were concious of saving legs and stamina for the later stages. Despite our beta the ground was very rough with tussocky grass covering much of the hillsides. It seemed all a bit too wet for heather too. A minor cock-up in the clouds, which were lotering around the 500m mark, meant we dropped a few places but by then we were into the flow of things. I was finding the uphills tough especially as my partner was running strongly about 20m in front. A long road section (well 3miles) got us to the furthest-most checkpoints. A whole bunch of faster teams sped past at this point at an unbelieveable speed and we were soon back on our own. The ground underfoot seemed to be getting worse and I didn't seem to have any energy. I was desperately trying to keep on eating but a long slog up towards Green Lowther finished me off. At the summit I was knackered and the rain by now was lashing down and the wind was viciously cold. Strangely there was a tarmaced road on the top of this hill, with white lines and everything. Runners were huddling behind buildings everywhere. Even running downhill was hard. Dropping off the path to the next checkpoint I suddenly lost all co-ordination and was staggering rather than running. Feeling very light-headed I stuffed in a Mars bar and pulled on all the spare clothing I had. I gingerly made my way down to the marshalled check-point. I really had had enough and told the marshal and my partner that. However after a quick jog down the road, with the aim of finding somewhere to camp, I felt much better and decided that in fact I could continue relatively safely. I was very aware that I was leaving the only short-cut behind, and with some trepidation we set off back up the route. The rain came and went but was never dry and finally it was only 5km to go. A couple of controls, where we lost loads of time, and then we were in the camp. We were both soaked through and quickly set up the tent in a relatively dry area. We jumped into our sleeping bags, had some soup and the both crashed out. After a couple of hours I managed to convince Henry to don wet kit and fill up the water bottles so I could cook our food. I snuggled back down in to my bag for some more sleep. Vesta meal beef curry and rice went down well but neither of us could face more food and just wanted to sleep. Suddenly at 2am Henry starts cursing about wet feet. Sure enough there is about an inch of water in the tent. I start bailing and after about 5l got it relatively dry. The survival bags come out and we lay them down to keep the sleeping bags at least a bit dry. An hour later I am bailig out again and this time when we look into the porch there is running water from underneath the tent. The pan is actually bobbing up and down. Inside all my clothes are soaked through. We both huddled on my Therma-rest and tried not to think too hard. The rain gradually lessend but was replaced by stronger wids that whipped the condensation into our clothes and sleeping bags. Everything was damp and we contemplated setting straight back to the base camp when it got light. Meanwhile I got siome fitful sleep.

The morning dawned clear and after some oats and hot chocolate starting didn't seem too bad. I wrang out my running kit, put it on and then headed up to the start bang on time. With clouds still threatening I was a bit undescided especially as the distance given was 33.5km. Thankfully the day stayed fine and the kit gradually dried out. We began to enjoy oursleves and had a good run, making up a far amount of time of the others in the class. Not enough to make much of a difference but a moral boost all the especially as I seemed to be keeping my own with Henry and the other teams. I began to tick off controls anticipating when the final refolding of the map would reveal the finish. At last it was all easy ground and the adrenalin from being so close to home gave my tired body a boost. The finish was superb. I for one felt a real sense of achievement. I had pushed myself hard mentally as well as physically and we had completed the course in good style. I turned to Henry grining slightly manicaly and asked about next year to which he replied ' LAMM Elite?'. Well, if he can put up with a slower runner then I'm game for it.

DAY 1: 40km 2600m 9h 36min
DAY2: 33.5km 1800m 6h 30min

Last weekend before the OMM : (

2007-10-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

So the last weekend before the OMM and I went with Dave over to Ben Mor Coigach and walked, at a very easy pace, over three Grahams in the area starting from the Stac Pollaidh road. The only downside from this approach was the rather boggy section at the start. Superb views over the spectacular mountain / sea landscape to the north and south more than made up for wet feet. Happily, once out of the corries the going was dry underfoot and the sandstone outcrops, eroded into fantastic shapes, were great fun to boulder and scramble on. We took a long brew stop halfway round to take in the views and sacreligiously re-arranged the cairn on Sgurr Fhidhleir to keep the bitter southerly wind off our backs. We ambled back over Ben Mor Coigach in time to catch the late afternoon sun illuminating the rocky crest of Stac Pollaidh.

It doesn't look as though the weather will be as kind as this on race day.

$Time 5h Distance 13km Height 1200m

Carbisdale weekend

2007-10-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

It was my final weekend before tapering in preparation to the OMM and I decided to spend the weekend up in Caithness, an area where I haven't run much before. Saturday saw me parked at the phone box at Braemore Lodge. After a quick check with the stalker regarding any shooting I did a superb loop starting up Maiden Pap and Morven. Two sandstone hills that stand rampant above the large tracts of moorland, which comprises much of the surrounding area. After a quick steep pull up the Pap a long traverse along runnable grass led up to a bealach below Morven. I have just started Yoga but I must have pulled something as the steep climb was agony on my achilles.

Coming down was fine and having done the steepest and longest climb I decided to run through the discomfort. On the way I went over Smean with a 15m high conglomerate crag making up the highest point. I tried some scrambling but the lichen covered pudding stones were disconcerting and I left the inviting routes to a more intrepid climber to conquer.

To add in some height and distance after Smean, I climbed up and over Sal-vaich. In all of the bealachs the pungent musk from the stags was almost over-powering. Despite being circled a few times I avoided any confrontation, which was as well as they can run a lot faster through heather than I can.

To complete the loop I ran along the three tops of Scaraben. There was a distressing amount of descent and reascent involved and in contrast to the previous hills was covered in quartzite scree. Although I stuck to ridges as much as I could still hear bellowing challenges echoing in the corries. After Scaraben East I followed a wet track dotted with old telegraph poles past a number of abandoned steadings back to the start point.

Time: 5.5hs Distance 25km Height 1800m.

On Sunday the weather wasn't so good but I still headed out to do a round of Glen Loth, a glen just north of Brora. I parked at the viewpoint at the head of the glen and headed anticlockwise first up over Beinn Dhorain. My route then took me deep into rolling hillsides and valleysto the East. Classic OMM territory. I then spent the next couple of hours running through heather of various deepness before reaching Glen Sletdale. The climb back up from the road to the west side of Glen Loth and Beinn Mhealaich was tough and slow. Not much running at all. Coming off the top of the Beinn the heavens, which had been threatening all day, finally opened and the rain drummed on my hood. Obviously there must be some kind of cumulus above the stratus that had accompanied me for so long. After 20minutes the shower passed and allowed me at least to get changed in comfort when I reached the car. Although the route lacked the interest of the previous day I did get some satisfaction of getting into a pretty wild and lonely place.
Time: 4.5hs Distance: 21km Height 1200m,

Another week closer

2007-10-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Only three weeks to go to the OMM and it was meant to be an easy week. The normal Tuesday run was over in Ord Hill just over in North Kessock. I had never been before but there is a myriad of superb single-track trails linking together forestry tracks and enough steep hills to get the lungs and legs going.

On Saturday I couldn't face driving too far and the weather wasn't great anyway so I decided to link up the three Marylins which surround Loch Ruthven near Inverness. I won't bore anyone with the details but I started from the RSPB car-park and headed clockwise past the climbing boulder. Even though it was only 14km it took about 3hs due to the terrain (rough heather, bracken and moor). With low cloud and drizzle navigation was challenging and I achieved almost total immersion in a deeper-than-expected drainage ditch. It is great to have such good training so close to home and I would actually recommend the loop.

Sunday was my first race in a month and only my 7th of the year over at Bennachie(about 13km) in deepest darkest Aberdeenshire. The race was fast and all on well constructed paths. I was running strongly uphill, although I struggled on the flatter and downhill sections. Following a team mate I went off course in the latter stages, but still finshed 15th in 1h 05min 31sec despite the extra kilometer I had run. Without the minor diversion I reckon a time just over the hour would have been on the cards. It all bodes well and I actually enjoyed racing for once. Might even do some more next year.

So I managed my 4hs running at the weekend and one of my best placing in a hill race. Very good for my confidence. My legs are trashed but some massage from my therapist has done them a world of good. Fingers crossed that I can recover in time for my last 2 hard runs before the OMM.

EPIC!!!

2007-10-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

After Thursday's run I was absolutely shattered. My legs were absolutely minced which I can only account to the very rough ground we covered. With the forecast indicating light winds myself and Emily decided to go kayaking over on Moidart. After 2 days kayaking and an overnight camp at which we cooked everything over an open-fire, I felt the need to grab in a run to make sure I didn't miss my weekly milage (hourage really).

We got back to Inverness relatively late so it wasn't until 17.30 until I left the house aiming to cover about 20km. The initial 10km was on track and the first trig-point at 200m went to plan. As I headed over the first open moorland section the light was begining to fade. Suddenly on my right I spotted 2 large bulls and I used all available cover to stay out of their way. A huge band of gorse pushed me off my bearing too far North but at least that way I got to see a large chambered cairn. I hit a road and ran down for a couple of hundred meters. By the time I reached the second trig point it was well and truely dark and I got my head torch on.

I now had a 4km cross country stretch to reach the General Wade road which I could follow easily back to town. This leg started badly. I gave up on my orginal route after I disappeared, several times, over my knees in bog. A huge patch of gorse cancelled out my cross-country attempt to reach the row of pylons which was to mark the line of my alternative route. So back to the road, a quick jog, a jump over the fence and off along the side of the pylons. I have never been the keen on the dark and trapsing through the dark, stumbling in amongst tussocks and puddles with the electricty wires crackling ominously really spooked me. I then had a horrid thought that some demented farmer might think I was out poaching and would take a pot-shot at me. Either that or some axe murderer might be lucking on a dark, wet night to spring upon some unsuspecting hill runner. I quickly switched off my head torch and after my eyes got used to the dark it was easy enough to follow my route. The gorse had been cleared from beneath the pylons and I even managed to up the pace. Slowly the dark edge of the forest came into view,but I was rapidly discovering that distance are much harder to judge in the dark. I thought I was nearly there but suddenly all routes forward ended in a huge bog, fringed by 10ft gorse either side. I tried to skirt the worst but kept on getting pushed further and further away from my bearing. Attempts at forcing my way through were quickly aborted. Every path I followed ended in gorse dead ends and the only sounds I could hear was my splashing through puddles and startled quacks of ducks startled by some idiot waking them up in the middle of the night. I began to panic and tried to orientate myself. I really couldn't, morally at least, face the return journey to the road I had come from. And just at the point of dispair my head torch, now firmly switched on, illuminated a well worn animal track heading in rough the right direction. I followed this to a burn marked on the map and I took a bearing across more open-ground. My worry subsided and I jogged through fields past a barn, over a fence. My heart leapt as I caught a glimpse of two large eyes, obviously belonging to some huge beast. I quickly hurdled a fence which was about knee height and hoped the thing wasn't interested in me. The thunder of hooves on my right indicated that he, for it definetly was a him, was interested and had several mates with him. I know that to run is probably the worse things to do in that situation but run I did Like a the proverbial out of hell. A full-on 400m sprint until I reached General Wades. I jogged down relieved, wet through and mentally exhausted and Emily came in the car and saved me the last 3km through the town.

Distance: 26km Time: 3.5h